DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Apr. 12, 2024) – Mercy University women's basketball graduate student Katie Wall (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) and junior Jaclyn Stanavich (Amsterdam, N.Y./Amsterdam) have been named Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) Division II Women's Basketball First Team All-Met and Head Coach Scott Lagas has been tabbed the Division II Coach of the Year.
Wall earns First Team All-Met honors for the third straight season, while Stanavich takes home All-Met recognition for the first time. Lagas becomes the first coach in program history to receive Coach of the Year accolades from the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association. The trio helped lead the Mavericks to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1985 and most wins (20) since 1985.
Wall was also named First Team All-ECC last month and had a strong final season as a Maverick, averaging a team-high 16.0 points, 3.4 assists and 2.7 steals per game. The graduate student ranked third in the ECC in points per game and was in the top 10 in the ECC in both assists and steals per game. The three-time ECC Player of the Week and one-time Defensive Player of the Week also ranked third in the ECC in threes made (61) and was second in free throws made (139). Wall scored a career-high 40 points in the Mavericks' win over Saint Anselm on November 11th. The guard had 12 games with 20 or more points and scored in double figures in all but nine games. Wall was also named to the ECC Championship All-Tournament Team. She ends her impressive five-year career ranked second in program history in points (1,742), seventh in assists (404), seventh in steals (251), first in games played (120), fifth in field goals made (552), first in three-pointers made (232) and ninth in points per game (14.5).
Stanavich was tabbed First Team All-ECC last month after averaging 15.7 points per game on a team-best 41.4 percent shooting from the floor with 6.1 rebounds per game and 2.0 steals per game. The junior ranked fifth in the ECC in points per game and was sixth in steals per game. The ECC Championship All-Tournament Team selection had 27 games with double-digit points and eight games with 20 or more points. The 11-time ECC Honor Roll recipient had four double-doubles and averaged a team-high 16.8 points per game in ECC play. Stanavich scored a career-high-tying 25 points in Mercy's come-from-behind victory over St. Thomas Aquinas in the ECC Championship Semifinals and scored a team-high 18 points against Bentley in the Mavericks' first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1985.
Lagas is named Coach of the Year by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association after being named ECC Coach of the Year last month. Lagas led the Mavericks to their most wins (20) and first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1985. Lagas also guided Mercy to their first-ever appearance in the ECC Championship Final, their most ECC wins in program history (12) and their fourth straight ECC Championship appearance. Lagas also oversaw Mercy's first 10-game winning streak since 1985 and the Mavericks finished in a program-best second place in the ECC standings. Mercy earned a first-round bye in the ECC Championship for the first time. Under Lagas' leadership, the Mavericks have recorded back-to-back seasons with double-digit ECC wins for the first time in program history and Mercy has recorded double-digit wins in three straight seasons for the first time since 1987-93.
The trio will be honored at the 91st MBWA Haggerty Awards dinner on Thursday, April 18, at the Sleepy Hollow Hotel & Conference Center in Tarrytown, NY.
