WILMINGTON, Del. (Nov. 26, 2023) – Despite a combined 43 points from graduate student Katie Wall (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) and junior Jaclyn Stanavich (Amsterdam, N.Y./Amsterdam), the Mercy University women's basketball team dropped a 67-66 decision to Goldey-Beacom College on Sunday afternoon at the Jones Center.
The Mavericks (5-1) suffer their first loss of the season, while the Lightning (1-5) earn their first win of the season.
Wall had a game-high 23 points on 6-of-11 shooting with four rebounds and Stanavich recorded a career-high 20 points on 9-of-16 shooting with a team-high seven rebounds. Freshman Mary McClintock (Essex Junction, Vt./La Lumiere) added a career-high nine points on 4-of-4 shooting and sophomore Kyla Nembach (Lynbrook, N.Y./Lynbrook) contributed five points and four rebounds.
Goldey-Beacom was led by Rory Ciszkowski who had a team-high 20 points.
A Stanavich jumper to open the game gave Mercy a 2-0 lead. The Lightning followed with an 11-0 run to take an 11-2 lead with 6:42 left in the first quarter. Back-to-back baskets from Angelina Barrera (Gloucester City, N.J./Gloucester Catholic) and Stanavich made it 11-6. However, Goldey-Beacom ended the quarter on a 6-1 run to take a 17-7 lead after one quarter of play.
Goldey-Beacom opened the second quarter on an 11-4 run to take their largest lead of the game, 28-11, with 4:47 left in the half. The Lightning later held a 31-14 lead at the 3:27 mark before Mercy closed the quarter on a 6-0 run, capped off by a Wall three, to cut Goldey-Beacom's lead to 11, 31-20, at halftime.
A Wall three at the 8:36 mark of the third quarter cut the Lightning's lead to seven, 32-25. Goldey-Beacom scored the next four points to increase the lead back to double-digits, 36-25, with 6:37 on the clock. Another Wall three at the 5:10 mark cut the hosts lead to seven again, 39-32. The Lightning stormed back on a 12-2 run to increase the lead back to 17, 51-34, with three minutes left in the quarter. Goldey-Beacom later held a 53-36 lead before five straight points from McClintock to end the quarter cut the hosts lead to 12, 53-41, after three quarters.
A Karlee Lemon three to open the fourth quarter gave the Lightning a 15-point lead, 56-41. The Mavericks continued to battle and went on an 18-2 run, finished off by a Stanavich three, to take a 59-58 lead with 3:46 left. A Katie Yoder free throw tied the game at 59-59 with 3:12 on the clock before Stanavich connected on a layup to give Mercy the lead back at 61-59 with 2:52 remaining. Janiya Stevens later went 2-of-2 from the line to tie the game again at 61-61 at the 2:20 mark. Yoder later gave the Lightning a 63-61 lead with 1:40 left after a Mercy turnover. Stanavich tied the game at 63-63 with a jumper before Jenissa Varela drained a layup on the other end to give Goldey-Beacom a 65-63 lead with one minute left. Nembach recorded a three-point play with 45 seconds left to give Mercy a 66-65 lead. After a Yoder miss and a Mercy turnover, Varela drew a foul with 18 seconds left and went 2-of-2 from the line to give the Lightning a 67-66 lead. Following a Mercy timeout, the Mavericks had three attempts to take the lead but could not connect and got the ball back following a jump ball with 0.5 seconds left. A last three attempt from the top of the arc would not fall and Goldey-Beacom escaped with the 67-66 win.
Mercy shot 43.6 percent (24-of-55) from the floor, 40.0 percent (6-of-15) from downtown and 66.7 percent (12-of-18) from the foul line. Goldey-Beacom shot 37.9 percent (22-of-58) from the field, 37.5 percent (9-of-24) from beyond the arc and 77.8 percent (14-of-18) from the charity stripe. Mercy held a 40-30 edge on the glass.
Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, November 29th when they host Post at 5 p.m.
