PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (Jan. 16, 2024) – Despite a double-double from sophomore Angelina Barrera (Gloucester City, N.J./Gloucester Catholic), the Mercy University women's basketball team dropped a 49-43 decision at regionally-ranked Chestnut Hill College on Tuesday night at Sorgenti Arena.
The Mavericks (9-6) see their two-game winning streak come to an end, while the Griffins (11-5) have won seven games in a row. Mercy held Chestnut Hill to a season-low 49 points.
Mercy was led by Barrera who had a team-high-tying 11 points and a career-high 14 rebounds with two blocks. Junior Jaclyn Stanavich (Amsterdam, N.Y./Amsterdam) netted 11 points and five rebounds and graduate student Katie Wall (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) recorded seven points and five rebounds. Senior Maria Tedesco (Ocean Township, N.J./St. Rose) added six points and five rebounds.
Chestnut Hill was led by Emily Sekerak who had a game-high 13 points.
Chestnut Hill jumped out to a 9-4 lead with 5:58 left in the first quarter, following a Caleigh Edwards layup. The Griffins later held an 11-7 advantage before a Wall three and Molly Boek (Saugerties, N.Y./Saugerties) layup gave Mercy a 12-11 lead after the first quarter.
The Griffins scored the first three points of the second quarter to take a 14-12 lead with 7:20 left in the half. An Avery White jumper at the 3:46 mark gave Chestnut Hill their largest lead of the half, 20-14. The hosts held a 24-19 lead before two Wall free throws and a Barrera layup cut the Griffins lead to one, 24-23, at halftime.
Mercy regained the lead, 25-24, after a Barrera jumper to open the second half. A Stanavich layup with 6:42 remaining in the third quarter gave the Mavericks a 27-26 lead. Chestnut Hill scored the next six points to retake the lead at 32-27 at the 3:10 mark. Mercy cut the deficit to three, 34-31, following an Amani Abuhatab (West Haven, Conn./West Haven) jumper with 1:51 on the clock. However, the hosts scored the final three points of the quarter to take a 37-31 lead after three quarters.
A Bridie McCann layup to open the fourth quarter gave the Griffins their largest lead of the game, 39-31. Mercy rallied with an 8-4 run, capped off by a Tedesco jumper, to cut the Chestnut Hill lead to four, 43-39, with 4:38 remaining. The Griffins ensued with the next four points to build the lead back to eight, 47-39, with 2:52 on the clock. A Kayla Halvorsen (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y./Dobbs Ferry) jumper and a pair of Wall free throws made it 47-43 with 56 seconds left. Following turnovers by both teams, Edwards went 1-of-2 from the line with 15 seconds left to make it 48-43 and Caraline Herb later went 1-of-2 from the line to give the Griffins a 49-43 victory.
Mercy shot 26.4 percent (14-of-53) from the floor, 8.3 percent (1-of-12) from downtown and 87.5 percent (14-of-16) from the foul line. Chestnut Hill shot 34.0 percent (17-of-50) from the field, 0.0 percent (0-of-8) from beyond the arc and 62.5 percent (15-of-24) from the charity stripe. Mercy held a 42-34 edge on the glass.
Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks resume action on Friday, January 19th when they host D'Youville at 5 p.m.
