DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Nov. 20, 2024) – Despite four Mavericks scoring in double figures, the Mercy University women's basketball team dropped a hard-fought 69-67 decision to regionally-ranked Dominican University on Wednesday night at the Neil Judge Student Athlete Center.
The Mavericks (1-3) have dropped three games in a row, while the Chargers (5-1) have won three games in a row. Dominican entered the game ranked No. 6 in the D2CSC East Region Top 10 Poll.
Mercy was led by junior Angelina Barrera (Gloucester City, N.J./Gloucester Catholic) who had a double-double with a team-high 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting with a game-high 11 rebounds and five blocks. Sophomore Amani Abuhatab (West Haven, Conn./West Haven) added 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting with nine rebounds and sophomore Molly Boek (Saugerties, N.Y./Saugerties) had 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Senior Jaclyn Stanavich (Amsterdam, N.Y./Amsterdam) contributed 12 points and sophomore Grace Lesko (Northampton, Pa./Northampton Area) had a career-high eight points and eight rebounds.
Dominican was led by Cayla Howard who had a game-high 20 points.
The Chargers jumped out to a 9-4 lead at the 2:18 mark of the first quarter. A Boek free throw with 21 seconds on the clock got the Mavericks to within four, 11-7, after the first quarter.
An Angelina DiMarsico layup gave Dominican a 20-14 lead with 5:17 left in the half. Mercy stormed back on a 16-2 run to take their largest lead of the game, 30-22, with 43 seconds left in the half after a Boek three. A DiMarsico three cut the Mavericks lead to five, 30-25, at halftime.
A Boek layup at the 9:17 mark of the third quarter gave Mercy a 34-27 lead. A Barrera layup with 8:35 on the clock made it 36-29. The Mavericks later held a 40-35 lead following a Stanavich layup at the 6:37 mark. Dominican scored the next five points to tie the game at 40-40 before a Lesko three with 3:57 on the clock gave Mercy the lead again at 46-43. The Chargers scored the next four points to take the lead back at 47-46 and took a 51-49 lead into the fourth quarter.
Two Howard free throws to open the fourth quarter gave Dominican a 53-49 lead. A Howard jumper later made it 55-51 with 8:46 remaining. The Mavericks went on an 8-0 run, capped off by a Barrera layup, to take a 59-55 lead at the 7:05 mark. A Stanavich jumper with 4:09 remaining once again gave Mercy a four-point lead, 65-61. Dominican scored the next seven points to take a 68-65 lead with 1:41 remaining. A Stanavich layup got Mercy to within one, 68-67, at the 1:24 mark. The score remained 68-67 until Tanasha Mills went 1-of-2 from the line with 11 seconds left to give the Chargers a 69-67 lead. A last second Kayla Halvorsen (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y./Dobbs Ferry) three would not fall and the Chargers controlled the ensuing rebound as time expired to earn the 69-67 win.
Mercy shot 42.9 percent (27-of-63) from the floor, 38.5 percent (5-of-13) from downtown and 50.0 percent (8-of-16) from the foul line. Dominican shot 35.3 percent (24-of-68) from the field, 31.3 percent (5-of-16) from beyond the arc and 88.9 percent (16-of-18) from the charity stripe. Mercy held a 49-34 edge on the glass. Dominican used 20 Mercy turnovers to hold a 23-5 edge in points off turnovers.
Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, November 23rd when they play at Caldwell at 3 p.m.
