BUFFALO, N.Y. (Feb. 16, 2024) – Powered by a game-high 29 points from graduate student Katie Wall (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham), the Mercy University women's basketball team earned a key 70-65 win at ECC foe D'Youville University on Friday night at College Center Gym.
The Mavericks (15-8, 8-4 ECC) have won five games in a row and win at the Saints (9-14, 7-6 ECC) for the first time. Mercy also sweeps the season series with D'Youville for the first time. Mercy currently sits in a tie for second place in the ECC standings with four games remaining in the regular season.
Mercy was led by Wall who had a game-high 29 points on 9-of-19 shooting from the floor and 7-of-8 shooting from the foul line to go along with four steals. Sophomore Angelina Barrera (Gloucester City, N.J./Gloucester Catholic) recorded 11 points and seven rebounds and sophomore Kyla Nembach (Lynbrook, N.Y./Lynbrook) netted 10 points and seven rebounds. Junior Jaclyn Stanavich (Amsterdam, N.Y./Amsterdam) had eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds and freshman Amani Abuhatab (West Haven, Conn./West Haven) scored a career-high seven points. Senior Maria Tedesco (Ocean Township, N.J./St. Rose) contributed three points and five rebounds and sophomore Megan Marcotte (Enfield, Conn./Enfield) produced two points, five rebounds and two blocks.
D'Youville was led by Anna Jankovic who had a team-high 17 points.
Mercy jumped out to a 6-0 lead at the 6:18 mark of the first quarter following two baskets from Stanavich and one from Barrera. The Saints scored five unanswered points to make it 6-5 before the Mavericks went on a 10-0 run, capped off by a Nembach three, to take a 16-5 lead with 3:25 left in the quarter. D'Youville went on an 8-0 run to make it 16-13 before a Wall jumper gave Mercy an 18-13 lead after one quarter of play.
A Jankovic three cut Mercy's lead to two, 18-16, with 9:13 left in the half. The Mavericks stormed back on a 13-5 run to increase the lead back to 10, 31-21, at the 3:00 mark following an Abuhatab layup. A Wall three with 45 seconds remaining in the half gave Mercy a 36-25 lead. An Isabella Kostyal-Larrier layup cut the Mavericks lead to nine, 36-27, at halftime.
A Brianne Moxley three at the 8:49 mark of the third quarter cut the Mercy lead to six, 38-32. The Mavericks answered back with seven straight points to increase their lead to 13, 45-32, with 6:29 on the clock after two Wall free throws. The hosts ensued with an 11-0 run to get within two, 45-43, late in the quarter. Two Barrera free throws gave Mercy a 47-43 lead after three quarters.
A Wall trifecta with 9:04 left gave Mercy a 52-45 lead. The Saints rallied with a 9-1 run to take a 54-53 lead with 6:49 remaining. Tedesco gave the Mavericks the lead back on a layup on the next Mercy possession and Wall drained another three to give Mercy a 58-54 lead at the 5:21 mark. A Nembach three and Tedesco free throw gave the Mavericks an eight-point lead, 62-54, with three minutes left. D'Youville followed with an 8-3 spurt to make it a one-possession game, 65-62, with 35 seconds left. Wall went 2-of-2 from the line to make it 67-62 and Jaelyn Vleer-Elliott went 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to make it 67-63 with 20 seconds left. Nembach also went 2-of-2 from the line to give Mercy a 69-63 lead before a Stella Mollica jumper made it 69-65. Abuhatab then went 1-of-2 from the line with 11 seconds on the clock to give the Mavericks a 70-65 advantage. Mercy held D'Youville scoreless for the final 11 seconds to earn the key road win.
Mercy shot 40.4 percent (23-of-57) from the floor, 38.9 percent (7-of-18) from downtown and 77.3 percent (17-of-22) from the charity stripe. D'Youville shot 33.3 percent (24-of-72) from the field, 31.8 percent (7-of-22) from beyond the arc and 76.9 percent (10-of-13) from the foul line. D'Youville held a 44-41 edge on the glass.
Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks resume action on Sunday, February 18th when they play at Daemen at 12 p.m.
