NEW HAVEN, Conn. (Nov. 12, 2023) – Powered by graduate student Katie Wall (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) and junior Jaclyn Stanavich (Amsterdam, N.Y./Amsterdam) scoring in double figures, the Mercy University women's basketball team earned a 53-43 win at regionally-ranked Southern Connecticut State University on Sunday afternoon at the James Moore Fieldhouse.
The Mavericks (2-0) start 2-0 for the first time since 2017 and defeat the Owls (1-1) for the first time. Southern Connecticut State entered the week ranked seventh in the Division II College Sports Communicators (D2CSC) Preseason East Region Top 10 poll.
Wall had a game-high 26 points on 8-of-18 shooting with seven rebounds and three steals. Stanavich had 14 points, seven rebounds, two assists and three steals and sophomore Angelina Barrera (Gloucester City, N.J./Gloucester Catholic) had nine points and six rebounds. Junior Kayla Halvorsen (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y./Dobbs Ferry) had three points and five rebounds and senior Maria Tedesco (Ocean Township, N.J./St. Rose) had five rebounds. Freshman Amani Abuhatab (West Haven, Conn./West Haven) added one point.
Southern Connecticut State was led by Delaney Haines who had a team-high 19 points.
Mercy jumped out to a 7-0 lead with 7:42 left in the opening quarter after a Wall jumper. The Owls scored the next four points to make it 7-4 before two free throws from Wall and a jumper from Stanavich made it 11-4 with 3:39 remaining in the quarter. A Haines three cut the Mavericks lead to four, 11-7, at the end of the first quarter.
A Wall layup made it 13-7 before back-to-back Owl baskets cut Mercy's lead to two, 13-11, with eight minutes left in the half. Mercy quickly answered with an 8-0 run led by five points from Wall and a three-point play from Barrera to give the Mavericks a 21-11 lead with six minutes remaining in the half. Haines made it 21-14 after a three before five consecutive points by Wall gave Mercy their largest lead of the game, 26-14, with 4:39 on the clock. Southern Connecticut State netted five points in a row to make it 26-19 before Stanavich converted on a three-point play before halftime to give Mercy a 29-19 lead at halftime.
An Ashley Evans layup to open the second half cut the Mavericks lead to eight, 29-21. However, a Stanavich three-point play increased the Mercy lead back to double digits, 32-21, with 8:43 left in the quarter. A Haines three with 1:35 on the clock made it 36-30 before Barrera drained two free throws to give the Mavericks a 38-30 lead. A Haines jumper once again made it a six-point game, 38-32, before Abuhatab connected on a free throw at the end of the quarter to give Mercy a 39-32 lead after three quarters.
The Owls again cut the deficit to six, 39-33, with 9:49 left, but Wall once again answered with a three to give Mercy a 42-33 advantage. A Barrera layup at the 6:05 mark made it 44-33 before the hosts went on a 6-0 run to cut the Mavericks lead to just five, 44-39, with 4:24 remaining. Wall followed with a jumper to make it 46-39 before Makenzie Helms drained a pair of free throws to get the Owls back within five, 46-41, with 2:21 on the clock. Stanavich increased the lead back to seven, 48-41, with a jumper and Haines countered with a jumper of her own to make it 48-43. The Mavericks defense held the Owls scoreless for the final 1:31 of the game and Stanavich and Wall combined for five points from the line to give Mercy the 53-43 road win.
Mercy shot 33.3 percent (16-of-48) from the floor, 14.3 percent (2-of-14) from downtown and 73.1 percent (19-of-26) from the foul line. Southern Connecticut State shot 34.0 percent (16-of-47) from the field, 35.3 percent (6-of-17) from beyond the arc and 62.5 percent (5-of-8) from the charity stripe. Mercy held a 36-27 edge on the glass.
Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, November 15th when they play at Bloomfield at 5:30 p.m.
