DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Jan. 25, 2024) – The Mercy University women's basketball team hosts ECC foe University of the District of Columbia on Saturday, January 27th at 12 p.m.
Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Saturday, January 27th 12 p.m.
Records: Mercy (10-8, 3-4 ECC), District of Columbia (13-6, 5-2 ECC)
Location: Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
Last Meeting vs. District of Columbia
UDC earned an 82-68 win over Mercy on December 9, 2023.
Scouting the Mavericks
Mercy is coming off a 73-71 loss at Staten Island on Wednesday for their second straight loss. The Mavericks were led by junior Jaclyn Stanavich who had a game-high 23 points and by sophomore Angelina Barrera who recorded a double-double by way of 14 points and 16 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 January 8th and is averaging a team-high 15.9 points per game with 5.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.5 steals per game. The graduate student is third in the ECC 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 15.1 points per game and is averaging 6.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.7 steals per game. The junior scored a career-high 25 points against Columbus State on December 16th. Sophomore Angelina Barrera was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week on January 8th and is third on the team with 10.9 points per game and leads the team with 8.8 rebounds per game. The sophomore ranks third in the ECC in rebounds per game. Barrera scored a career-high 23 points with 13 rebounds in the win over Caldwell on January 3rd. Tedesco is recording 5.4 rebounds per game and 1.9 assists per game to go along with 5.7 points per game. Halvorsen is netting 4.4 points per game and sophomore Kyla Nembach is averaging 12.0 points per game over her last two games. Barrera and Stanavich were named to the ECC Honor Roll on November 20th and Stanavich has been named to the Honor Roll six times with the most recent time coming on January 22nd. The Mavericks have recorded double-digit wins in three straight seasons for the first time since they had six straight seasons of 10 or more wins from 1987-93. Mercy is 6-18 all-time against the Firebirds and have won two straight meetings at home against UDC.
Scouting the Firebirds
UDC is coming off a 68-62 loss at St. Thomas Aquinas on Wednesday. The loss snapped a two-game winning streak. The Firebirds were picked third in the ECC Preseason Poll after going 15-13 last season. UDC is receiving votes in the latest D2CSC East Region Top 10 Poll. UDC is led by two-time ECC Player of the Week Destiny Ryles who is averaging a team-high 15.2 points per game with 6.5 rebounds per game and a team-high 5.5 assists and 3.1 steals per game. One-time ECC Player of the Week and two-time Defensive Player of the Week Tori Williams nets 13.6 points per game and a team-high 7.1 rebounds per game. Latavia Jackson posts 11.9 points per game on a team-high 45.4 percent shooting.
Next Game
Mercy plays at Queens on Wednesday, January 31st at 5:30 p.m.
