DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Feb. 9, 2024) – Powered by double-doubles from junior Jaclyn Stanavich (Amsterdam, N.Y./Amsterdam) and sophomore Angelina Barrera (Gloucester City, N.J./Gloucester Catholic) and 18 points from graduate student Katie Wall (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham), the Mercy University women's basketball team earned a convincing 71-54 win over ECC foe Roberts Wesleyan University on Girls in Sports Night Friday night at the Neil Judge Student Athlete Center.
The Mavericks (14-8, 7-4 ECC) have won four games in a row and defeat the Redhawks (5-12, 1-8 ECC) for the fourth straight time. The 17-point margin of victory is Mercy's largest all-time against Roberts Wesleyan.
Mercy was led by Stanavich who had a team-high 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the foul line with 10 rebounds and four steals. Barrera added 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds and Wall netted 18 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the floor with six rebounds and three steals. Sophomore Kyla Nembach (Lynbrook, N.Y./Lynbrook) contributed seven points and sophomore Megan Marcotte (Enfield, Conn/Enfield) chipped in six points and four rebounds. Freshman Amani Abuhatab (West Haven, Conn./West Haven) had a career-high-tying five points and senior Maria Tedesco (Ocean Township, N.J./St. Rose) recorded three points and two assists. Freshman Paige Fourtin (Ansonia, Conn./Greens Farms Academy) scored two points.
Roberts Wesleyan was led by Paris Anthony who had a game-high 22 points.
The Redhawks jumped out to a 3-0 lead at the 9:43 mark of the first quarter following a Danielle DiCintio three. The Mavericks answered right back with a 17-0 run to take a 17-3 lead, following a Nembach three, with 4:39 left in the opening quarter. An Anthony layup ended the Mercy run and made it 17-5. The Mavericks went on a 10-0 run to increase their lead to 22, 27-5, after a Wall three, capping a 27-2 run after Roberts Wesleyan built an early 3-0 lead. Mercy headed into the second quarter with a 28-7 lead after shooting 60.0 percent from the floor and going 13-of-19 from the foul line.
A Wall three to open the second quarter gave Mercy a game-high 24-point lead, 31-7, with 9:30 left in the half. The Mavericks held a 33-12 lead after a Marcotte layup before the Redhawks ended the quarter on a 16-9 run to cut Mercy's lead to 14, 42-28, at halftime.
Two Barrera free throws to open the third quarter gave Mercy a 44-28 lead. Anthony connected on a layup to make it 44-30 before back-to-back baskets from Barrera increased the Mavericks lead back to 18, 48-30, at the 7:34 mark. A Marianna Freeman layup with 3:35 on the clock made it 52-38, but a Barrera free throw and Marcotte layup gave Mercy a 55-38 lead after three quarters.
Mercy opened the fourth quarter on an 8-2 run to increase the lead back to 23, 63-40, after two Barrera free throws. Roberts Wesleyan rallied with a 6-0 run to cut the Mavericks lead to 17, 63-46, with 4:19 to play. Five free throws from Wall and two free throws from Fourtin gave Mercy a 70-46 advantage with 1:34 left. The Redhawks ended the game on an 8-1 run, but it was not enough, and the Mavericks earned the 71-54 win.
Mercy shot 37.3 percent (19-of-51) from the floor, 38.5 percent (5-of-13) from downtown and 71.8 percent (28-of-39) from the foul line. Roberts Wesleyan shot 39.0 percent (23-of-59) from the field, 20.0 percent (2-of-10) from beyond the arc and 66.7 percent (6-of-9) from the charity stripe. Mercy held a 42-30 edge on the glass.
Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks resume action on Friday, February 16th when they play at D'Youville at 6 p.m.
