FLUSHING, N.Y. (Jan. 31, 2024) – Powered by a team-high 21 points and the game-tying basket at the buzzer to force overtime by graduate student Katie Wall (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham), the Mercy University women's basketball team overcame a 13-point fourth quarter deficit to earn a 69-60 overtime win over ECC foe Queens College on Wednesday night at Fitzgerald Gymnasium.

The Mavericks (12-8, 5-4 ECC) have won two games in a row and defeat the Knights (5-15, 1-8 ECC) despite not holding their first lead of the game until the overtime period. Tonight's game is the first overtime game for Mercy since November 26, 2019 at Caldwell. 

Mercy was led by Wall who had a team-high 21 points with seven rebounds and three steals. Junior Jaclyn Stanavich (Amsterdam, N.Y./Amsterdam) netted 16 points and a game-high-tying four steals and sophomore Kyla Nembach (Lynbrook, N.Y./Lynbrook) recorded 11 points, including five points in overtime. Senior Maria Tedesco (Ocean Township, N.J./St. Rose) added nine points and sophomore Megan Marcotte (Enfield, Conn./Enfield) contributed four points and six rebounds. Freshman Amani Abuhatab (West Haven, Conn./West Haven) chipped in four points and sophomore Angelina Barrera (Gloucester City, N.J./Gloucester Catholic) scored two points and had a team-high nine rebounds. Freshman Molly Boek (Saugerties, N.Y./Saugerties) produced two points.

Queens was led by Brianna Davis who had a game-high 31 points and 10 rebounds.

The Knights jumped out to an 8-3 lead with 5:03 left in the first quarter after a Davis layup. A Stanavich jumper at the 2:41 mark made it 11-9 before Queens ended the quarter on a 7-2 run to take an 18-11 lead after the first quarter.

A Jalea Abrams three with 4:54 left in the first half gave the Knights a 26-18 lead. A Boek layup and Wall free throw made it 26-21 with 2:52 on the clock before the hosts went on a 6-2 spurt to increase the lead to nine, 32-23, after a Davis three at the 1:47 mark. A Wall three to close out the half cut the Knights lead to six, 32-26, at halftime.

A Stanavich three at the 8:12 mark of the third quarter cut the Queens lead to one, 34-33. The Knights ensued with an 11-0 run to take a 45-33 lead with 2:58 remaining in the quarter. An Abuhatab three ended the run and made it 45-36. However, Queens scored the final four points of the quarter to take a 49-36 lead after three quarters.

The Knights held a 52-39 lead after a Davis three with 8:54 remaining in regulation. The Mavericks continued to battle and rattled off a 12-0 run, finished off by a Stanavich jumper, to cut the Queens lead to one, 52-51, with 4:59 left. An Abrams jumper at the 2:24 mark gave the Knights a three-point lead, 54-51, before Wall went 2-of-2 from the line to make it 54-53 with 1:42 on the clock. A Davis free throw gave the Knights a 55-53 lead before Marcotte tied the game following a layup with 1:01 on the clock. Abrams gave Queens the lead again at 57-55 with 10 seconds left. Following a Mercy timeout, Wall drove to the lane and connected on a jumper to tie the game at 57-57 as time expired, forcing overtime.

Stanavich opened the overtime period with a three-point play to give Mercy their first lead of the game, 60-57, with 4:52 left. Davis connected on two free throws to make it 60-59 before free throws from Tedesco and Wall gave the Mavericks a 62-59 lead with 2:53 remaining. Following a Queens miss on the other end, Nembach drained a dagger three to put the Mavericks up six, 65-59, with 2:25 on the clock. Abrams went 1-of-2 from the line to make it 65-60, but Tedesco and Nembach went 4-of-4 from the line to increase the Mavericks lead to nine, 69-60, with 38 seconds left. Mercy led the rest of the way and earned the 69-60 come-from-behind win.

Mercy shot 36.2 percent (21-of-58) from the floor, 38.1 percent (8-of-21) from downtown and 65.5 percent (19-of-29) from the foul line. Queens shot 40.0 percent (20-of-50) from the field, 53.8 percent (7-of-13) from beyond the arc and 68.4 percent (13-of-19) from the charity stripe. Queens held a 38-37 edge on the glass.

Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, February 3rd when they host Molloy at 12 p.m.