DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Mar. 1, 2024) – The Mercy University women's basketball team hosts ECC foe St. Thomas Aquinas College on Saturday, March 2nd at 3 p.m.
Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Saturday, March 2nd 3 p.m.
Records: Mercy (18-8, 11-4 ECC), St. Thomas Aquinas (17-10, 11-4 ECC)
Location: Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
Last Meeting vs. St. Thomas Aquinas
St. Thomas Aquinas earned a 73-59 win over Mercy on December 2, 2023.
Scouting the Mavericks
Mercy is coming off a 73-54 win over Molloy on Saturday. The Mavericks were led by graduate student Katie Wall who had a game-high 20 points and 10 rebounds. Mercy entered the 2023-24 season picked fourth in the ECC Preseason Poll after going 17-10 last season. The Mavericks recorded their most overall wins in a season since 1989 and had their most ECC wins since 1997. Mercy's third-place finish in the ECC standings was the highest in program history. The Mavericks also had their highest winning percentage since 1986 and hosted their first-ever ECC Championship Game. Mercy looks to qualify for the ECC Championship for the fourth straight year and win their first-ever ECC Championship. Graduate student Katie Wall returns for sixth-year Head Coach Scott Lagas after being named First Team All-ECC and First Team All-Met last season. The guard was named ECCPlayer of the Week once last season after averaging a team-high 14.0 points per game with 4.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. Wall had a team-high 54 steals and ranked third in the ECC in points per game last season. Also, returning is sophomore Angelina Barrera who was named to the ECC Honor Roll twice last season after averaging 7.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and had a team-high 21 blocks in 26 games. Junior Jaclyn Stanavich also returns after averaging 6.1 points and 3.3 rebounds per game in 24 games a year ago. Senior Maria Tedesco returns after recording 4.2 points and a team-high 5.3 rebounds per game. Also returning for Lagas are junior Kayla Halvorsen and sophomores Megan Marcotte and Kyla Nembach. Lagas will also look to freshmen Paige Fourtin, Mary McClintock, Layla Greene, Victoria Pfeffer, Molly Boek, Amani Abuhatab and Grace Lesko to help get the Mavericks back to the ECC Championship. The Mavericks have been led so far by Wall who was named ECC Player of the Week on November 13th, December 11th and February 5th and was named to the ECC Honor Roll on December 4th, January 8th, February 20th and February 26th. The guard is averaging a team-high 16.5 points per game with 5.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.6 steals per game. The graduate student is second in the ECC in points per game and set a new school record with her 193rd career three-pointer against St. Thomas Aquinas on December 2nd. She scored a career-high 40 points in the Mavericks season-opening win over Saint Anselm on November 11th. Wall recorded her 500th career rebound against Molloy on February 3rd. Stanavich is second on the team with 15.3 points per game and is averaging 6.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game. The junior scored a career-high 25 points against Columbus State on December 16th. Sophomore Angelina Barrera was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week on January 8th and on February 26th and named to the ECC Honor Roll on January 29th and is third on the team with 10.8 points per game and leads the team with 8.8 rebounds per game. The sophomore ranks second in the ECC in rebounds per game. Barrera scored a career-high 23 points with 13 rebounds in the win over Caldwell on January 3rd. Tedesco is recording 4.9 rebounds per game and 1.8 assists per game to go along with 5.5 points per game. Sophomore Kyla Nembach has scored in double figures in five of her last 10 games. Barrera and Stanavich were named to the ECC Honor Roll on November 20th and Stanavich has been named to the Honor Roll 10 times with the most recent time coming on February 20th. The Mavericks have recorded double-digit wins in three straight seasons for the first time since they had six straight seasons of 10 or more wins from 1987-93. Mercy has secured their fourth straight ECC Tournament berth. The Mavericks have recorded back-to-back season with double-digit ECC wins for the first time in program history. Mercy has their most wins in a season since the 1985-86 season and with a win would have their most ECC wins in a season in school history. The Mavericks are also looking for their first nine-game winning streak since 1985. With a win Mercy would secure the No. 2 seed in next week's ECC Tournament and a first-round bye. Mercy is 6-34 in their last 40 meetings against the Spartans but have won four of the last seven meetings and two straight meetings in Dobbs Ferry. Mercy will honor seniors Katie Wall and Maria Tedesco in a ceremony prior to the game.
Scouting the Spartans
St. Thomas Aquinas is coming off a 71-48 win over Queens on Saturday for their third straight win. The Spartans were picked first in the ECC Preseason Poll after going 21-9 last season, qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. St. Thomas Aquinas is ranked ninth in the latest NCAA Division II Women's Basketball East Regional Rankings. The Spartans are led by ECC Preseason Player of the Year and two-time ECC Player of the Week Sarah Ericson who averages a team-high 16.1 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. Erin Leary ranks second on the team with 14.5 points per game and averages a team-high-tying 8.3 rebounds per game and Trinity Cheatom nets 9.3 points per game.
