PROVIDENCE, R.I. (Nov. 4, 2024) – Despite seven different Mavericks scoring, the Mercy University women's basketball team dropped a 64-32 decision at Division I Providence College in an Exhibition on Monday night at Alumni Hall.
The game does not count towards Mercy's record but does count towards the Friars' (1-0) record. Providence entered the season picked third in the Big East Preseason Poll.
Mercy was led by junior Kyla Nembach (Lynbrook, N.Y./Lynbrook) who had a team-high eight points. Sophomore Molly Boek (Saugerties, N.Y./Saugerties) added seven points and sophomore Amani Abuhatab (West Haven, Conn./West Haven) had six points and five rebounds. Sophomore Grace Lesko (Northampton, Pa./Northampton Area) and junior Angelina Barrera (Gloucester City, N.J./Gloucester Catholic) each had four points and senior Jaclyn Stanavich (Amsterdam, N.Y./Amsterdam) had two points. Junior Megan Marcotte (Enfield, Conn./Enfield) finished with one point, seven rebounds, four steals and three blocks.
Providence was led by Olivia Olsen who had a game-high 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Mercy took a 3-2 lead after a Nembach three with 5:44 left in the first quarter. An Abuhatab jumper with 4:49 remaining in the opening quarter gave the Mavericks a 5-4 lead. The Friars went on a 12-5 run to take a 16-10 lead before a late Stanavich layup cut Providence's lead to four, 16-12, after the first quarter.
Providence opened the second quarter on a 10-0 run to take a 26-12 lead with 4:22 left in the half. Five points from Boek and a layup from Nariah Scott made it 28-17 at the 3:40 mark. The Friars ensued with six straight points to take a 34-17 lead. Back-to-back baskets from Lesko and Barrera to close the half made it 34-21 at halftime.
The Friars began the third quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 41-21 lead. A Nembach three ended the run and made it 41-24 with 5:03 left in the quarter. Providence ended the quarter on an 8-3 run to take a 49-27 lead after three quarters.
Providence started the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run to take a 57-27 lead with 7:22 remaining. The Friars increased their lead to a game-high 34 points, 64-30, with 59 seconds left before a Lesko layup with 15 seconds left made the final score 64-32 in the Mavericks final tune-up before the regular season.
Mercy shot 22.2 percent (12-of-54) from the floor, 20.0 percent (3-of-15) from downtown and 71.4 percent (5-of-7) from the foul line. Providence shot 41.9 percent (26-of-62) from the field, 25.0 percent (4-of-16) from beyond the arc and 50.0 percent (8-of-16) from the charity stripe. Providence held a 51-32 edge on the glass.
Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks open their regular season on Saturday, November 9th when they face Saint Anselm at Southern Connecticut State at 3:30 p.m.
