DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Mar. 8, 2024) – The No. 2 seeded Mercy University women's basketball team takes on No. 3 seeded St. Thomas Aquinas College in an ECC Women's Basketball Championship Semifinal on Saturday, March 9th at 2:30 p.m. at Daemen University. The winner of Saturday's game will face the winner of No. 1 Daemen/No. 4 District of Columbia in the Final on Sunday, March 10th at 12 p.m.

Who, When and Where

Date/Time: Saturday, March 9th 2:30 p.m.

Records: #2 Mercy (19-8, 12-4 ECC), #3 St. Thomas Aquinas (18-11, 11-5 ECC)

Location: Amherst, N.Y.

Date/Time: Sunday, March 10th 12 p.m.

Records: Winner of No. 2 Mercy/No. 3 St. Thomas Aquinas vs. Winner of No. 1 Daemen/No. 4 UDC

Location: Amherst, N.Y.

Tickets

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE

All Games

$8 - General Admission
$4 - Students with ID, Senior Citizens, Children Ages 5-12
Children under 5 free for all games

* Must purchase separate tickets to attend both semifinal games on March 9. Semifinal presale tickets for friends and family of participating teams will go on sale at 11 a.m. on Thursday, March 7th. Semifinal presale ticket sales end on Friday, March 8th at 11:59 a.m. Semifinal general admission ticket sales starts at 12 p.m. on Friday, March 8th and are open through the end of the game. Ticket sales for the Final open at 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 9th with no presale.

* Tickets must be purchased at the link above. Due to the seating capacity of the tournament venues, it is recommended that tickets be purchased in advance. The ECC will not guarantee that tickets will be available at the door. *

Last Meeting vs. St. Thomas Aquinas

Mercy earned a 57-52 win over the Spartans on March 2, 2024.

Last Meeting vs. Daemen

Mercy earned a 50-44 win at Daemen on February 18, 2024.

Last Meeting vs. District of Columbia

Mercy earned a 67-50 win over UDC on January 27, 2024.

Scouting the Mavericks

Mercy is coming off a 57-52 win over St. Thomas Aquinas on Saturday for their ninth straight win. The Mavericks were led by junior Jaclyn Stanavich who had a team-high 19 points and by graduate student Katie Wall who had 17 points. Mercy is making their fourth straight ECC Championship appearance. The Mavericks are looking to advance to the Final for the first time in program history and are looking for their first postseason win since 1992. Mercy currently has their longest winning streak since 1985 and finished in a program-best second place this season in the ECC standings. The Mavericks won a school-record 12 ECC games and have recorded double-digit ECC wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time ever. Mercy is looking to secure their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1985. With a win, the Mavericks would have their most wins in a season since 1985 when they went 22-7. 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 First Team All-ECC on Thursday 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 16.5 points per game with 5.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.7 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. Stanavich was named First Team All-ECC on Thursday and is second on the team with 15.4 points per game and is averaging 6.1 rebounds, 1.6 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 Year on Thursday 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 10.6 points per game and leads the team with 8.7 rebounds per game. The sophomore ranks third 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 1.7 assists per game to go along with 5.3 points per game. Sophomore Kyla Nembach is averaging 4.9 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. 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 are ranked eighth in the latest NCAA Division II East Regional Rankings. Mercy is 7-34 in their last 41 meetings against the Spartans, but has won three of the last four meetings, including a split this season. The Mavericks are 3-19 all-time against Daemen but snapped a 16-game losing streak to the Wildcats on the road on January 21st. Mercy is 7-18 all-time against UDC and earned a split against the Firebirds this season.

Scouting the Spartans

St. Thomas Aquinas is coming off a 62-52 win over No. 6 D'Youville in the First Round of the ECC Championship on Wednesday. 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 making their 10th straight appearance in the ECC Championship and won the Championship in 2018. They finished runner-up last season. The Spartans are led by First Team All-ECC selection, ECC Preseason Player of the Year and two-time ECC Player of the Week Sarah Ericson who averages a team-high 16.3 points per game with 8.3 rebounds per game. First Team All-ECC selection Erin Leary ranks second on the team with 14.9 points per game and averages a team-high 8.4 rebounds per game and Trinity Cheatom nets 9.3 points per game.

Scouting the Wildcats

Daemen is coming off a 64-59 win over Roberts Wesleyan in their regular season finale on March 2nd. The Wildcats were picked second in the ECC Preseason Poll after going 20-5 last season. Daemen won the ECC Championship last season for the third time in four seasons and played in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight season. The Wildcats are currently ranked sixth in the latest NCAA East Regional Rankings. This is the fifth year in a row Daemen has earned a first-round bye, the fourth straight season they have earned the No. 1 seed, and the third consecutive year they will serve as hosts of the final two rounds of the tournament. Daemen has won three of the past four ECC titles. The Wildcats are led by ECC Player of the Year Alahna Paige who averages an East Region-best 21.7 points per game with a team-high 2.9 assists per game. Paige shoots 41.0 percent from downtown and makes 3.4 threes per game. Second Team All-ECC honoree Gabby McDuffie is second on the team with 10.6 points per game and Third Team All-ECC recipient Claire Pikett is third with 9.2 points per game.

Scouting the Firebirds

UDC is coming off a 70-67 win over Staten Island in the ECC Championship First Round on Wednesday. The Firebirds were picked third in the ECC Preseason Poll after going 15-13 last season. UDC is making their third straight ECC Championship appearance and look to win their first ECC Championship since 2014. UDC is led by First Team All-ECC selection Destiny Ryles who is averaging a team-high 16.7 points per game with 6.3 rebounds per game and a team-high 6.1 assists and 3.4 steals per game. Third Team All-ECC honoree Tori Williams nets 12.1 points per game and a team-high 7.0 rebounds per game. Latavia Jackson was named Third Team All-ECC and posts 12.5 points per game on a team-high 47.3 percent shooting.