DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Dec. 1, 2024) – Despite three Mavericks scoring in double figures, the Mercy University women's basketball team dropped a hard-fought 63-60 decision to No. 20 Assumption University on Sunday afternoon at the Neil Judge Student Athlete Center.
The Mavericks (3-4) see their two-game winning streak come to an end, while the Greyhounds (7-1) have won two games in a row.
Mercy was led by junior Angelina Barrera (Gloucester City, N.J./Gloucester Catholic) who scored a game-high and season-high 21 points on 9-of-19 shooting with four rebounds. Senior Jaclyn Stanavich (Amsterdam, N.Y./Amsterdam) added 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting with three assists and senior Kayla Halvorsen (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y./Dobbs Ferry) scored 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Sophomore Amani Abuhatab (West Haven, Conn./West Haven) had four points and a team-high six rebounds and sophomores Molly Boek (Saugerties, N.Y./Saugerties) and Grace Lesko (Northampton, Pa./Northampton Area) each recorded four points.
Assumption was led by Molly Stokes who had a team-high 18 points.
Assumption jumped out to a 7-2 lead at the 7:12 mark of the first quarter before Mercy stormed back on a 10-2 run to take a 12-9 lead after a Lesko layup with 1:49 on the clock. The Greyhounds scored the final four points of the quarter to take a 13-12 lead after the first quarter.
The Greyhounds scored the first four points of the second quarter to take a 17-12 lead with 8:21 left in the half. Assumption later held a 21-19 lead after a Marina Callahan layup at the 5:56 mark. Mercy ended the quarter on a 13-0 run, finished off by a Barrera jumper, to take a 32-21 lead at halftime.
A Stokes layup to open the third quarter made it 32-23 before back-to-back baskets from Boek and Barrera gave Mercy their largest lead of the game, 36-23, at the 6:42 mark of the third quarter. The Mavericks later held a 40-27 lead after a Barrera layup with 5:45 on the clock before Assumption went on a 13-5 run to cut the Mavericks' lead to five, 45-40, with 1:42 left in the quarter. Two Barrera free throws made it 47-40 before a Teagan Kamm free throw cut Mercy's lead to six, 47-41, after three quarters.
The Greyhounds recorded the first five points of the fourth quarter to cut the Mercy lead to one, 47-46, with 9:07 left, leading to a Mercy timeout. Following the timeout, two baskets from Barrera and two free throws from Lesko gave the Mavericks a 53-46 lead with 6:44 remaining. Assumption went on an 8-0 run to take the lead, 54-53, after a Kamm layup with 4:41 on the clock. A Boek layup with 4:24 left gave Mercy a 55-54 lead before Kaijhe Hall answered with a layup on the other end to put the Greyhounds up, 56-55. A Hall layup with 2:11 left gave Assumption a 58-55 lead. Following turnovers by both teams and missed shots by both teams, Mercy held possession of the ball with under 40 seconds left. The Mavericks were called for a travel with 36 seconds left, giving Assumption the ball. Mercy was forced to commit four fouls before sending Callahan to the foul line. She went 1-of-2 from the line to give the Greyhounds a 59-55 lead with 29 seconds left. After a Mercy timeout, Halvorsen completed a three-point play to get the Mavericks to within one, 59-58, with 21 seconds remaining. Stokes went 2-of-2 from the line with 20 seconds on the clock to give Assumption a 61-58 lead. Abuhatab followed with a layup to cut the Greyhounds lead to one, 61-60, with seven seconds left. Emma Dahl went 2-of-2 from the line with 0.4 seconds left to give Assumption a 63-60 lead and the Greyhounds escaped with the 63-60 win.
Mercy shot 46.3 percent (25-of-54) from the floor, 18.2 percent (2-of-11) from downtown and 80.0 percent (8-of-10) from the foul line. Assumption shot 39.3 percent (24-of-61) from the field, 16.7 percent (3-of-18) from beyond the arc and 85.7 percent (12-of-14) from the charity stripe. Assumption held a 38-29 edge on the glass.
Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks resume action on Friday, December 6th when they host Roberts Wesleyan at 6 p.m.
