ROCHESTER, N.Y. (Mar. 2, 2022) – Despite a team-high 20 points from junior Katie Wall (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham), the No. 5 seeded Mercy College women's basketball team dropped a 70-64 decision to No. 4 seeded Roberts Wesleyan College in an East Coast Conference (ECC) Women's Basketball Championship First Round matchup on Wednesday night at Voller Athletic Center.
The Mavericks (11-16) end the year with their most overall wins in a season since 1997 and their nine ECC wins this season were also the most since 1997. Mercy ends the year playing in the ECC Championship for the first time without every team making it since 2009. The Redhawks (14-11) advance to the Semifinals where they will play at top seed Daemen on Saturday.
Wall went 5-of-9 from the floor and 5-of-8 from downtown. Junior Kellie Nudd (Colchester, Conn./Bacon Academy) had 14 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Senior Taysha Bender (Glen Burnie, Md./Archbishop Spalding) netted nine points and sophomore Maria Tedesco (Ocean Township, N.J./St. Rose) had eight points and five rebounds. Junior Asha Talib (Allentown, Pa./University of Bridgeport) chipped in six points and a team-high six assists.
Roberts Wesleyan was led by Georgia Haverlock who had a game-high 28 points.
The Redhawks jumped out to a 12-3 lead with 6:27 left in the first quarter, leading to a Mercy timeout. After the timeout, the Mavericks ended the quarter on an 11-4 run, capped off by a Jamie Waldron (Monroe, N.Y./Monroe Woodbury) jumper, to head into the second quarter down, 16-14.
Mercy opened the second quarter on a 7-2 run to take a 21-18 lead with 8:16 left in the quarter after two Wall free throws. The Redhawks followed with the next seven points to take a 25-21 lead at the 6:32 mark. The Mavericks ensued with an 11-5 run, finished off by a Wall three, to take a 32-30 lead with 1:50 left in the half. Roberts Wesleyan ended the half on a 6-2 run to head into halftime up, 36-34.
A Tedesco jumper at the 8:30 mark of the third quarter tied the game at 38-38. The hosts answered with a 15-2 run to take their largest lead of the game, 53-40, with 3:07 left in the quarter. Mercy continued to battle and ended the quarter on a 7-2 run to head into the fourth quarter down eight, 55-47.
The Redhawks scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to make it 59-47 with 6:14 remaining. A Bender jumper at the 2:58 mark got Mercy to within seven, 62-55. However, the hosts scored the next six points to increase the lead back to 12, 68-56, and held off a late Mercy rally to earn the win.
Mercy shot 37.3 percent (19-of-51) from the floor, 29.2 percent (7-of-24) from downtown and 86.4 percent (19-of-22) from the foul line. Roberts Wesleyan shot 45.5 percent (25-of-55) from the field, 40.0 percent (8-of-20) from beyond the arc and 70.6 percent (12-of-17) from the charity stripe. Roberts Wesleyan held a 40-25 edge on the glass.
