DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Jan. 21, 2023) – Powered by a team-high 15 points from senior Katie Wall (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham), the Mercy College women's basketball team earned a 50-48 win over ECC foe Queens College on Saturday afternoon at the Neil Judge Student Athlete Center.
The Mavericks (12-6, 6-2 ECC) have won seven games in a row and have won three of their last four meetings against the Knights (5-12, 3-5 ECC). Mercy now has their most wins in a season since the 1996-97 season when they had 13 wins. The Mavericks continue their best start since the 1985-86 season and sit in first place in the ECC standings.
Wall had 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting with five rebounds and three assists and senior Asha Talib (Allentown, Pa./University of Bridgeport) had eight points and a game-high 12 rebounds and four steals. Graduate student Taysha Bender (Glen Burnie, Md./Archbishop Spalding) recorded eight points and freshman Angelina Barrera (Gloucester City, N.J./Gloucester Catholic) netted seven points and eight rebounds. Senior Kellie Nudd (Colchester, Conn./Bacon Academy) added five points and four rebounds and sophomore Jaclyn Stanavich (Amsterdam, N.Y./Amsterdam) had four points. Graduate student Sara Hopkins (Mountain Top, Pa./Concordia College) contributed three points.
Queens was led by Aalia Carlson who had a game-high 21 points.
Mercy jumped out to a 12-6 lead with 2:32 left in the first quarter after a Bender layup. After a Queens timeout, the Knights scored four straight points to make it 12-10 before a Barrera free throw and Wall layup gave Mercy a 15-10 lead after the first quarter.
Wall opened the second quarter with a three-point play to make it 18-10. Queens answered with a 15-6 run to take a 25-24 lead with 1:51 left in the half. A Nudd free throw and Hopkins three gave the Mavericks a 28-25 lead at halftime.
Queens scored the first four points of the third quarter to take a 29-28 lead with 7:15 left in the quarter. Mercy followed with a 7-0 run, capped off by a Bender three, to take a 35-29 lead at the 4:19 mark. The Knights later cut the Mercy lead to two, 37-35, before a Stanavich jumper gave the Mavericks a 39-35 lead after three quarters.
The Mavericks began the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run, finished off by a pair of Wall free throws, to take their largest lead of the game, 47-35, with 4:55 remaining. The Knights scored the next eight points to cut Mercy's lead to four, 47-43, with 1:32 on the clock. Wall drained a jumper to make it 49-43 before a Chelsea Reeves three trimmed the Mavericks lead to three, 49-46, with 44 seconds left. Bender would go 1-of-2 from the line to put Mercy up four, 50-46, with four seconds left. Carlson drained a long two-point jumper to get Queens within two, 50-48, with just under two seconds left. After a Mercy timeout, the Mavericks ran out the clock to secure the win.
Mercy shot 35.7 percent (20-of-56) from the floor, 13.3 percent (2-of-15) from downtown and 66.7 percent (8-of-12) from the foul line. Queens shot 34.7 percent (17-of-49) from the field, 54.5 percent (6-of-11) from beyond the arc and 72.7 percent (8-of-11) from the charity stripe. Mercy held a 41-29 edge on the glass.
Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, January 25th when they host Staten Island at 5 p.m.
