DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Dec. 28, 2023) – The Mercy University women's basketball team plays at Division I Sacred Heart University in an Exhibition contest on Sunday, December 31st at 1 p.m.
Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Sunday, December 31st 1 p.m.
Records: Mercy (7-5), Sacred Heart (5-8)
Location: Fairfield, Conn.
Last Meeting vs. Sacred Heart
Sacred Heart earned an 81-44 win over Mercy on December 31, 2022.
Scouting the Mavericks
Sunday's game will not count towards Mercy's record but will count toward Sacred Heart's record. The Mavericks are coming off a 67-54 loss to Columbus State on December 16th. Mercy was led by junior Jaclyn Stanavich who had a career-high 25 points with 10 rebounds. 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 18.8 points per game with 5.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.3 steals per game. The graduate student is second in 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 13.9 points per game and is averaging 6.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.9 steals per game. The junior scored a career-high 25 points against Columbus State on December 16th. Sophomore Angelina Barrera is third on the team with 9.6 points per game and leads the team with 7.7 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 5.8 rebounds per game and 2.4 assists per game to go along with 6.0 points per game. Halvorsen is netting 3.5 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 and a third time on December 18th.
Scouting the Pioneers
Sacred Heart is coming off a 70-64 loss at Vermont on December 20th for their third straight loss. The Pioneers were picked first in the Northeast Conference (NEC) Preseason Poll unanimously after going 19-14, winning the NEC Tournament Championship. Sacred Heart earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament and defeated Southern in the NCAA First Four before falling to Stanford in the First Round. The win over Southern marked the first-ever NCAA Tournament win by an NEC women's basketball program. The Pioneers are led by Ny'Ceara Pryor who leads the team with 17.2 points per game, 6.5 rebounds per game, 4.0 assists per game and 2.8 steals per game. Sajada Bonner has 10.6 points per game and Amelia Wood is third on the team with 9.5 points per game.
Next Game
Mercy hosts Caldwell on Wednesday, January 3rd at 5 p.m.
