DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Dec. 14, 2023) – The Mercy University women's basketball team plays at Saint Leo University on Friday, December 15th at 5 p.m. before facing Columbus State University on Saturday, December 16th at 1 p.m. at Saint Leo.
Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Friday, December 15th 5 p.m.
Records: Mercy (7-3), Saint Leo (7-2)
Location: Saint Leo, Fla.
Date/Time: Saturday, December 16th 1 p.m.
Records: Mercy (7-3), Columbus State (2-4)
Location: Saint Leo, Fla.
Last Meeting vs. Saint Leo
First Meeting
Last Meeting vs. Columbus State
First Meeting
Scouting the Mavericks
The Mavericks are coming off an 82-68 loss at UDC on Saturday. Mercy was led by graduate student Katie Wall who had a team-high 22 points and six assists. Junior Jaclyn Stanavich had 18 points and 11 rebounds and sophomore Angelina Barrera recorded 12 points. Mercy enters the 2023-24 season picked fourth in the ECC Preseason Poll after going 17-10 last season. The Mavericks recorded their most overall wins in a season since 1989 and had their most ECC wins since 1997. Mercy's third-place finish in the ECC standings was the highest in program history. The Mavericks also had their highest winning percentage since 1986 and hosted their first-ever ECC Championship Game. Mercy looks to qualify for the ECC Championship for the fourth straight year and win their first-ever ECC Championship. Graduate student Katie Wall returns for sixth-year Head Coach Scott Lagas after being named First Team All-ECC and First Team All-Met last season. The guard was named ECC Player of the Week once last season after averaging a team-high 14.0 points per game with 4.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. Wall had a team-high 54 steals and ranked third in the ECC in points per game last season. Also, returning is sophomore Angelina Barrera who was named to the ECC Honor Roll twice last season after averaging 7.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and had a team-high 21 blocks in 26 games. Junior Jaclyn Stanavich also returns after averaging 6.1 points and 3.3 rebounds per game in 24 games a year ago. Senior Maria Tedesco returns after recording 4.2 points and a team-high 5.3 rebounds per game. Also returning for Lagas are junior Kayla Halvorsen and sophomores Megan Marcotte and Kyla Nembach. Lagas will also look to freshmen Paige Fourtin, Mary McClintock, Layla Greene, Victoria Pfeffer, Molly Boek, Amani Abuhatab and Grace Lesko to help get the Mavericks back to the ECC Championship. The Mavericks have been led so far by Wall who was named ECC Player of the Week on November 13th and December 11th and named to the ECC Honor Roll on December 4th and is averaging a team-high 21.1 points per game on 43.7 percent shooting with 6.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.3 steals per game. The graduate student leads the East Region in points per game and set a new school record with her 193rd career three-pointer against St. Thomas Aquinas on December 2nd. She scored a career-high 40 points in the Mavericks season-opening win over Saint Anselm on November 11th. Stanavich is second on the team with 13.1 points per game and is averaging 6.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.9 steals per game. The junior scored a career-high 21 points against Post on November 29th. Sophomore Angelina Barrera is third on the team with 9.9 points per game and leads the team with 7.6 rebounds per game to go along with 1.2 steals per game. Barrera scored a career-high 21 points in the win over Bloomfield on November 15th. Tedesco is recording 5.9 rebounds per game and 2.7 assists per game to go along with 5.9 points per game. Halvorsen is netting 4.2 points per game. Barrera and Stanavich were named to the ECC Honor Roll on November 20th and Stanavich was tabbed to the Honor Roll for a second time on November 27th. Mercy is ranked 10th in the latest Division II College Sports Communicators (D2CSC) East Region Top 10 Poll.
Scouting the Lions
Saint Leo is coming off an 80-38 win over Fort Lauderdale on Monday for their sixth straight win. The Lions were picked ninth in the Sunshine State Conference Preseason Poll after going 14-15 last season, falling in the First Round of the Sunshine State Conference Championship. Saint Leo is ranked eighth in the D2CSC South Region Top 10 Poll. Saint Leo is led by Jumoke Adaramoye who averages a team-high 10.4 points and 7.1 rebounds per game on 51.6 percent shooting. Taydra Simpson is second on the team with 9.0 points per game on 48.3 percent shooting with a team-high 2.8 assists and 2.3 steals per game. Alanis Diaz is third on the team with 8.4 points per game and Chynna Mattair is fourth with 8.2 points per game.
Scouting the Cougars
Columbus State is coming off a 72-65 loss to Tuskegee on Tuesday for their fourth straight loss. The Cougars will face D'Youville on Friday before taking on Mercy on Saturday. Columbus State was picked second in the Peach Belt Conference Preseason Poll after going 15-12 last season, falling in the First Round of the Peach Belt Conference Tournament. The Cougars have been led by Letiya Reeves who averages a team-high 17.0 points per game with 7.5 rebounds and a team-high 3.2 steals per game. Amber Abusbeih nets 10.2 points per game and Olonna Rawls puts up 10.8 points and a team-high 8.0 rebounds per game.
Next Game
Mercy plays at Sacred Heart in an exhibition game on Sunday, December 31st at 1 p.m.
