NEW HAVEN, Conn. (Nov. 11, 2023) – Powered by a career-high 40 points and a game-high eight rebounds from graduate student Katie Wall (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham), the Mercy University women's basketball team opened their 2023-24 season with a 62-58 win over Saint Anselm College on Saturday afternoon at the James Moore Fieldhouse.
The Mavericks (1-0) open their season with a win for the second straight season and defeat the Hawks (0-1) for the first time in seven all-time meetings. Prior to today's game, Mercy had lost all prior six meetings to Saint Anselm by over 20 points.
Wall exploded for a career-high 40 points on 12-of-20 shooting from the floor and 12-of-14 shooting from the foul line. She also had eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. Junior Jaclyn Stanavich (Amsterdam, N.Y./Amsterdam) had six points and three rebounds and senior Maria Tedesco (Ocean Township, N.J./St. Rose) had six points and seven rebounds. Freshman Amani Abuhatab (West Haven, Conn./West Haven) had five points and five rebounds in her collegiate debut and junior Kayla Halvorsen (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y./Dobbs Ferry) had three points. Sophomore Megan Marcotte (Enfield, Conn./Enfield) added two points.
Saint Anselm was led by Liv Robles and Melanie Hoyt who both had a team-high 13 points.
A Tedesco free throw and Halvorsen three gave Mercy a 4-0 lead at the 8:19 mark of the first quarter. Saint Anselm answered with a 12-4 run to take a 12-8 lead with 2:59 left in the opening quarter. A Tedesco free throw and a pair of Wall free throws made it 12-11 before an Alexa Quirolo three gave the Hawks a 15-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Hawks held a 19-17 lead in the second quarter with eight minutes on the clock before four points from Wall and a free throw from Abuhatab gave Mercy a 22-19 lead with 5:37 left in the half. A Hoyt jumper made it 22-21 before a Tedesco jumper and a pair of Abuhatab free throws gave Mercy a 26-21 lead with four minutes on the clock. Robles made it 26-23 with a jumper before Wall capped off the half with a jumper to put the Mavericks ahead 28-23 at halftime.
Saint Anselm opened the third quarter with a three to cut the deficit to two, but Wall immediately followed with a three of her own to give Mercy a 31-26 lead just over a minute into the quarter. A Wall three at the 5:30 mark of the third quarter gave the Mavericks their largest lead of the game, 41-32. The Hawks rallied with a 10-2 run to cut Mercy's lead to just one, 43-42, with one minute left in the quarter. Wall drained a pair of free throws right before the end of the quarter to give Mercy a 45-42 lead after three quarters.
The Hawks would tie the game at 53-53 with 5:48 left following a pair of Hoyt free throws. After a Mercy timeout, Stanavich nailed a jumper and Wall made another free throw to give the Mavericks a 56-53 lead with 4:49 left. Hoyt connected on a free throw to make it 56-54 before Abuhatab made two more free throws to put the Mavericks up, 58-54, with 3:15 remaining. Hoyt recorded a layup on the next Hawk possession to make it 58-56, but Wall made a three on the other end to give Mercy a 61-56 lead with 2:13 on the clock.
Tatum Forbes got the Hawks back within three, 61-58, with 1:51 remaining, but Wall ensued with a free throw on the next Mercy possession to make it 62-58 with 1:28 on the clock. The Mavericks defense would hold Saint Anselm scoreless for the final 1:51 of the game to preserve the season-opening win.
Mercy shot 37.3 percent (19-of-51) from the floor, 45.5 percent (5-of-11) from downtown and 73.1 percent (19-of-26) from the foul line. Saint Anselm shot 43.8 percent (21-of-48) from the field, 25.0 percent (4-of-16) from beyond the arc and 70.6 percent (12-of-17) from the charity stripe. Mercy held a 30-27 edge on the glass.
Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks resume action tomorrow when they play at Southern Connecticut State at 3:30 p.m.
