DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Mar. 13, 2024) – The No. 8 seeded Mercy University women's basketball team plays at No. 1 seeded Bentley University in an NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Championship Regional Quarterfinal matchup on Friday. March 15th at 5 p.m.
Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Friday, March 15th 5 p.m.
Records: #8 Mercy (20-9), #1 Bentley (26-5)
Location: Waltham, Mass.
Tickets
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
Ticket Prices
Adult: $8.00
Child/Senior: $5.00
Parking
Fans can park in lots 1,2,3,11,12, 20, 21 and 31 (The higher number lots are closest to the Dana Center)
Last Meeting vs. Bentley
Bentley earned a 76-54 win over Mercy on November 15, 2008.
Scouting the Mavericks
The Mavericks are coming off a 55-50 loss to Daemen in the ECC Championship Final on Sunday. Mercy is making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1985 and is looking to win their first-ever NCAA Tournament game. The Mavericks enter the NCAA Tournament with their most wins in a season since 1985 and finished in a program-best second place in the ECC standings. Mercy recorded a program-record 12 ECC wins this season. The Mavericks qualified for the ECC Championship for the fourth straight season and advanced to the Final for the first time. Mercy entered the 2023-24 season picked fourth in the ECC Preseason Poll after going 17-10 last season. 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. The Mavericks have been led so far by graduate student Katie Wall who was named First Team All-ECC last week and was tabbed ECC Player of the Week on November 13th, December 11th and February 5th and named to the ECC Honor Roll on December 4th, January 8th, February 20th, and February 26th. The guard is averaging a team-high 16.4 points per game with 5.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.8 steals per game. The graduate student is third 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. Wall is 12 points shy of becoming the program's all-time leading scorer and was named to the ECC Championship All-Tournament Team. She currently has 1,738 career points. Junior Jaclyn Stanavich was named First Team All-ECC last week and is second on the team with 15.6 points per game and is averaging 6.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 2.1 steals per game. The junior scored a career-high-tying 25 points in the win over St. Thomas Aquinas in the ECC Semifinals and was named to the All-Tournament Team. Sophomore Angelina Barrera was named ECC Defensive Player of the Year last week and was tabbed ECC Defensive Player of the Week on January 8th and on February 26th and named to the ECC Honor Roll on January 29th. She is third on the team with 10.5 points per game and leads the team with 8.4 rebounds per game. The sophomore ranks fourth 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. Senior Maria Tedesco is recording 4.7 rebounds per game and 1.6 assists per game to go along with 5.0 points per game. Sophomore Kyla Nembach is averaging 5.0 points per game. Barrera and Stanavich were named to the ECC Honor Roll on November 20th and Stanavich was named to the Honor Roll 11 times with the most recent time coming on March 4th. Mercy is 0-4 all-time against Bentley. The Mavericks lead the ECC in scoring defense (56.8), are third in field goal percentage defense (36.5) and second in three-point field goal percentage defense (25.8).
Scouting the Falcons
Bentley is coming off a 64-49 win over Southern Connecticut State on Sunday to win their third straight NE10 Championship. The Falcons are currently ranked No. 12 nationally in the WBCA Top 25 Poll and No. 8 nationally in the D2CSC Top 25 Poll. The Falcons are making their 38th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. No Division II team in the nation has competed in more NCAA championships, played in more NCAA games (104) or posted more wins (65). Bentley won the National Championship in 2014 and were picked second in the NE10 Preseason Poll after going 22-10 last season. The Falcons are led by First Team All-NE10 selection Maggie Whitmore who averages a team-high 12.1 points per game with 6.7 rebounds per game. First Team All-NE10 selection Ella Thompson nets 11.1 points per game and a team-high 3.0 assists per game and Third Team All-NE10 honoree Kylie DuCharme is third with 10.8 points per game and leads the team with 8.6 rebounds per game. Niya Morgen was named the NE10 Rookie of the Year after averaging 7.8 points per game. The Falcons are third in the NE10 in scoring defense (53.9) and are second in scoring offense (65.2).
