DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Nov. 21, 2023) – Powered by seven different Mavericks scoring, the Mercy University women's basketball team earned a 51-43 win over University of Bridgeport in their home opener on Tuesday night at the Neil Judge Student Athlete Center.
The Mavericks (5-0) continue their best start since 1975 and defeat the Purple Knights (1-3) for the second straight season.
Mercy was led by junior Jaclyn Stanavich (Amsterdam, N.Y./Amsterdam) who had a team-high 11 points with six rebounds and three steals. Sophomore Angelina Barrera (Gloucester City, N.J./Gloucester Catholic) added 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds and graduate student Katie Wall (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) recorded nine points and four rebounds. Junior Kayla Halvorsen (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y./Dobbs Ferry) contributed eight points and three steals and senior Maria Tedesco (Ocean Township, N.J./St. Rose) netted six points and three rebounds. Freshman Amani Abuhatab (West Haven, Conn./West Haven) poured in four points and sophomore Kyla Nembach (Lynbrook, N.Y./Lynbrook) scored three points.
Bridgeport was led by Shakira Hester and Stephanie McBride who both had a game-high 12 points.
Bridgeport jumped out to a 12-4 lead at the 3:07 mark of the first quarter, leading to a Mercy timeout. Following the timeout, the Mavericks scored the next seven points to cut the deficit to one, 12-11, after a pair of Stanavich free throws. A Harmony Earth-Wiley layup made it 14-11 before a Barrera layup at the end of the quarter cut Bridgeport's lead to 14-13 after one quarter of play.
Abuhatab opened the second quarter with a pair of free throws to give Mercy a 15-14 lead. The Purple Knights regained the lead and held a 25-21 lead with 2:36 left in the half. A Tedesco layup and two Stanavich free throws tied the game at 25-25. Two Tariah Bryant free throws gave Bridgeport a 27-25 lead before Barrera scored the final basket of the half to send the teams into halftime tied at 27-27.
A three from Halvorsen with 5:50 left in the third quarter gave Mercy a 32-29 lead. A Niyah Whitten free throw later made it 34-32 before Wall drained a three at the 1:21 mark to give the Mavericks a 37-32 lead. A pair of Ayanna Brown free throws cut Mercy's lead to 37-34 after three quarters.
A Skylar Parris jumper with 9:43 remaining cut Mercy's lead to one, 37-36. Tedesco and Abuhatab made back-to-back baskets before Halvorsen drained a three to give the Mavericks an eight-point lead, 44-36, with 7:16 left. A McBride layup made it 44-38, but Mercy answered with a 4-1 spurt to take their largest lead of the game, 48-39, with 3:16 left after a Barrera jumper. A McBride layup with 22 seconds left trimmed Mercy's lead to seven, 50-43, but Wall went 1-of-2 from the line to seal the Mavericks 51-43 win.
Mercy shot 28.1 percent (16-of-57) from the floor, 29.4 percent (5-of-17) from downtown and 87.5 percent (14-of-16) from the foul line. Bridgeport shot 39.0 percent (16-of-41) from the field, 0.0 percent (0-of-2) from beyond the arc and 57.9 percent (11-of-19) from the charity stripe. Bridgeport held a 38-32 edge on the glass.
Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks resume action on Sunday, November 26th when they play at Goldey-Beacom at 1 p.m.
