DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Feb. 15, 2023) – The Mercy College women's basketball team plays at ECC foe D'Youville University on Friday, February 17th at 6 p.m. and at ECC foe Daemen University on Sunday, February 19th at 12 p.m.
Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Friday, February 17th 6 p.m.
Records: Mercy (15-7, 9-3 ECC), D'Youville (9-12, 7-6 ECC)
Location: Buffalo, N.Y.
Date/Time: Sunday, February 19th 12 p.m.
Records: Mercy (15-7, 9-3 ECC), Daemen (15-4, 10-3 ECC)
Location: Amherst, N.Y.
Last Meeting vs. D'Youville
Mercy earned a 49-43 win over D'Youville on December 9, 2022.
Last Meeting vs. Daemen
Daemen earned a 78-62 win over Mercy on December 11, 2022.
Scouting the Mavericks
Mercy is coming off a 65-53 win over St. Thomas Aquinas on February 8th. The win gave the Mavericks their first season series sweep of the Spartans since the 1975-76 season. Senior Katie Wall had a game-high and career-high 31 points and senior Kellie Nudd had 10 points. Wall was named ECC Player of the Week on Monday and was tabbed Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association Division II-III Player of the Week Honorable Mention on Tuesday. Freshman Angelina Barrera has been named to the ECC Honor Roll twice. Wall has been named to the Honor Roll five times this season. Wall was also named ECC Defensive Player of the Week on December 19th and has been named Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association Division II-III Player of the Week Honorable Mention three times. Graduate student Taysha Bender has been named to the ECC Honor Roll three times this season and has also been named Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association Division II-III Player of the Week Honorable Mention once. Wall recorded her 1,000th career point against Chestnut Hill on December 6th and Bender netted her 1,000th career point on December 9th against D'Youville. The Mavericks enter Friday's matchup with a 2-2 record all-time against D'Youville. Mercy looks to win at D'Youville for the first time. The Mavericks are 2-17 all-time against Daemen having lost the last 14 meetings. Mercy last won at Daemen on January 9, 2016. With a pair of wins, the Mavericks would be off to their best 24-game start since the 1985-86 season. Mercy has now recorded back-to-back double-digit win seasons for the first time since the 1991-92 and 1992-93 seasons. The Mavericks currently have their most wins in a season since the 1988-89 season and have posted their first winning record in the regular season since the 1996-97 season. With a win, Mercy would have their most ECC wins in a season since the 1996-97 season when they had 11 ECC wins. The Mavericks have secured their third straight berth into the ECC Tournament. Wall averages a team-high 14.6 points per game with 2.7 assists per game and 1.9 steals per game. Bender is second on the team with 10.9 points per game and averages 4.0 rebounds per game. The graduate student also averages a team-high-tying 1.9 steals per game. Senior Asha Talib averages 5.3 points and 5.1 rebounds per game and sophomore Jaclyn Stanavich is posting a career-high 5.1 points per game. Junior Maria Tedesco averages a team-high 5.4 rebounds per game and freshman Angelina Barrera is netting 6.9 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. Graduate student Sara Hopkins dishes out 2.3 assists per game and senior Kellie Nudd posts 7.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. Mercy enters the 2022-23 season picked fourth in the ECC Preseason Poll after going 11-16 last season. The Mavericks recorded their most overall wins and most ECC wins since 1997 and earned the program's first ECC Championship berth without every team making it since 2009. Mercy looks to qualify for the ECC Championship for the third straight year and win their first-ever ECC Championship. The fourth-place ranking is the highest in five seasons under Head Coach Scott Lagas. Wall was named the ECC Preseason Player of the Year after being named First Team All-ECC and First Team All-Met last season. She was named ECC Player of the Week twice after averaging a team-high 16.0 points, 4.4 assists and 2.4 steals per game. The guard ranked fourth in the ECC in points per game and second in assists and steals per game. Also returning for the Mavericks is Bender who was named Second Team All-ECC and Second Team All-Met last season after averaging 14.3 points per game. Nudd also returns after averaging 10.4 points per game. Tedesco comes back after leading the Mavericks with 6.0 rebounds per game to go along with 6.0 points per game. Talib averaged 6.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game last season and also returns. Lagas will look to Hopkins who returns after missing last season due to injury. Hopkins averaged 6.8 points and a team-high 5.6 assists per game for Concordia in 2021. During her three-year career at Concordia, she averaged 8.2 points and 3.8 assists per game. Lagas will also look to freshmen Megan Marcotte, Barrera, Nya Carroll and Kyla Nembach to help get the Mavericks back to the ECC Championship.
Scouting the Saints
D'Youville earned a 72-64 win over Walsh on Tuesday. The Saints were picked ninth in the ECC Preseason Poll after going 15-12 overall and 7-11 in ECC play last season. D'Youville is not eligible for the ECC Tournament as they are making the transition from Division III to Division II. Leading the Saints is junior Brianne Moxley who averages 10.0 points per game with 2.8 assists per game. Junior Stella Mollica is third on the team with 9.0 points per game and leads the team with 4.9 assists per game. Two-time ECC Defensive Player of the Week junior Anna Jankovic leads the ECC with 10.3 rebounds per game and leads the team with 10.4 points per game.
Scouting the Wildcats
Daemen earned a 65-33 win over Roberts Wesleyan on February 8th. The Wildcats will host St. Thomas Aquinas on Friday before hosting Mercy on Sunday. Daemen was picked second in the ECC Preseason Poll after going 22-5 overall and 16-1 in ECC play last season. Last season, Daemen won their second ECC Championship in three seasons and advanced to the final of the NCAA East Regional. The Wildcats are ranked fifth in the latest D2SIDA East Region poll. The Wildcats are led by one-time ECC Player of the Week graduate student Paige Emborsky who averages a team-high 11.1 points per game on 53.4 percent shooting with 3.8 rebounds per game. The guard shoots a blistering 61.3 percent from downtown with 2.4 made threes per game. Junior Alahna Paige is second on the team with 9.7 points per game and leads the team with 3.2 assists per game and junior Natalie Angeletti is fourth on the team with 7.4 points per game. Angeletti also leads the team with 6.1 rebounds per game and senior Mickayla Ivy is third on the team with 7.8 points per game.
Next Game
Mercy will host Molloy on Wednesday, February 22nd at 5 p.m.
