ROCHESTER, N.Y. (Jan. 12, 2024) – Powered by five Mavericks scoring in double figures, the Mercy University women's basketball team earned a 77-72 win at ECC foe Roberts Wesleyan University on Friday night at the Voller Athletic Center.
The Mavericks (9-5, 2-2 ECC) have won two games in a row and improve to .500 in ECC play. Mercy defeats the Redhawks (4-7, 0-3 ECC) for the third straight time and have won at Roberts Wesleyan for the second straight year.
Mercy was led by junior Jaclyn Stanavich (Amsterdam, N.Y./Amsterdam) who had a team-high 18 points with eight rebounds. Sophomore Angelina Barrera (Gloucester City, N.J./Gloucester Catholic) recorded 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds and junior Kayla Halvorsen (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y./Dobbs Ferry) had a season-high 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Graduate student Katie Wall (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) netted 11 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals and senior Maria Tedesco (Ocean Township, N.J./St. Rose) added 10 points and five rebounds.
Roberts Wesleyan was led by Marianna Freeman who had a game-high 19 points.
The Redhawks scored the first four points of the game and later held a 10-6 lead with 3:46 left in the first quarter. Two free throws from Barrera and a layup from Stanavich tied the game at 10-10 before a Danielle DiCintio three gave the hosts a 13-10 advantage. Tedesco made a free throw to make it 13-11 before Freeman connected on a layup to give the Redhawks a 15-11 lead with 1:14 on the clock. Back-to-back baskets from Stanavich and Halvorsen tied the score at 15-15 after one quarter of play.
Mercy opened the second quarter on an 18-7 run, capped off by an Amani Abuhatab (West Haven, Conn./West Haven) free throw, to take a 33-22 lead with 2:21 left in the half. Roberts Wesleyan answered with a 7-2 run to cut the Mavericks lead to six, 35-29. However, a three-point play from Tedesco gave Mercy a 38-29 lead at halftime.
A Georgia Haverlock three cut Mercy's lead to six, 40-34, at the 9:01 mark of the third quarter. Barrera quickly responded with a three-point play to increase the Mavericks lead back to nine, 43-34. Two Grace Galgano free throws made it 43-36 before two baskets each from Stanavich and Tedesco gave the Mavericks their largest lead of the game, 51-36, with 6:10 left in the quarter. The Redhawks scored the next 11 points to get within four, 51-47, with 3:05 remaining in the quarter. A Molly Boek (Saugerties, N.Y./Saugerties) free throw made it 52-47 before a Madalyn Mahoney layup trimmed the Mercy lead to three, 52-49. The Mavericks closed the quarter on a 6-2 run, finished off by a Wall three, to take a 58-51 lead after three quarters.
A Tedesco layup to open the fourth quarter gave Mercy a 60-51 advantage. Five straight points by the hosts made it 60-56 with 9:09 remaining. The Mavericks ensued with a 12-5 run, capped off by a Halvorsen three, to increase the lead back to double digits, 72-61, with 3:27 remaining. Roberts Wesleyan battled back with a 9-0 run to cut Mercy's lead to just two, 72-70, with 25 seconds left. After a Mercy timeout, Halvorsen was fouled and went 2-of-2 from the line to make it 74-70 with 23 seconds on the clock. DiCintio followed with a layup on the other end to make it a two-point game again, 74-72, with 17 seconds on the clock. Wall and Stanavich combined to go 3-of-4 from the line and the Mercy defense held the Redhawks scoreless for the final 17 seconds of the game to earn the 77-72 road win.
Mercy shot 35.7 percent (25-of-70) from the floor, 35.0 percent (7-of-20) from downtown and 74.1 percent (20-of-27) from the foul line. Roberts Wesleyan shot 45.2 percent (28-of-62) from the field, 37.0 percent (10-of-27) from beyond the arc and 75.0 percent (6-of-8) from the charity stripe. Mercy held a 49-34 edge on the glass.
Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks resume action on Tuesday, January 16th when they play at Chestnut Hill at 5 p.m.
