DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Feb. 18, 2025) – The Mercy University women's basketball team plays at ECC foe Queens College on Wednesday, February 19th at 7:30 p.m.
Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Wednesday, February 19th 7:30 p.m.
Records: Mercy (14-9, 8-5 ECC), Queens (9-13, 4-8 ECC)
Location: Flushing, N.Y.
Last Meeting vs. Queens
Mercy earned a 57-51 win over Queens on January 15, 2025.
Scouting the Mavericks
Mercy enters the 2024-25 season picked first in the ECC Preseason Poll for the first time in program history after going 20-10 last season. The Mavericks recorded their most wins in a season and first NCAA Tournament berth since 1985. Mercy finished with their most ECC wins (12) in program history and advanced to the ECC Championship Final for the first time. Met Basketball Writers Association and ECC Coach of the Year Scott Lagas guided the Mavericks to their fourth straight ECC Championship appearance, oversaw Mercy's first 10-game winning streak since 1985 and led the Mavericks to program-best second place finish in the ECC standings. Mercy has recorded back-to-back seasons with double-digit ECC wins for the first time and the Mavericks have recorded double-digit wins in three straight seasons for the first time since 1987-93. Mercy looks to qualify for the ECC Championship for the fifth straight season and win their first-ever ECC Championship. The Mavericks look to qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year and for the third time in program history.
Leading the returners for Lagas is ECC Preseason Player of the Year senior Jaclyn Stanavich who was tabbed First Team All-ECC and First Team All-Met last season after averaging 15.7 points per game on a team-best 41.4 percent shooting from the floor with 6.1 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game. The senior ranked fifth in the ECC in points per game and was sixth in steals per game. Stanavich was also named to the ECC Championship All-Tournament Team and scored a team-high 18 points against Bentley in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament in 2024. Also, returning for the Mavericks is junior Angelina Barrera who was named ECC Defensive Player of the Year last season after starting all 30 games with 10.4 points per game and a team-high 8.4 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game. Barrera had 10 double-doubles and ranked fourth in the ECC in rebounds per game. Junior Kyla Nembach returns after posting 2.5 points and 1.4 assists per game and senior Kayla Halvorsen is back after ranking second on the team with 18 three-pointers last season. Junior Megan Marcotte and sophomore Amani Abuhatab return after averaging 2.3 and 2.1 points per game, respectively. Sophomores Paige Fourtin and Molly Boek also return and sophomores Grace Lesko, Layla Greene and Victoria Pfeffer return after sitting out last season due to injury. Lagas also welcomes a strong four-member recruiting class with freshmen Morgan Miller, Caitlin Leary, Sophia Hoyt and Gabrielle Martin joining the team ahead of the 2024-25 season.
Mercy is coming off a 65-59 win over UDC on Saturday. The Mavericks were led by sophomore Amani Abuhatab who had a game-high 22 points and by sophomore Grace Lesko who had 20 points and a game-high 16 rebounds. Mercy has been led by junior Angelina Barrera who is averaging a team-high 13.9 points and 6.2 rebounds per game on 49.1 percent shooting. Barrera also leads the team with 2.6 assists and 1.1 blocks per game. Barrera is currently ranked in the Top 25 nationally in free throws made and attempted. Senior Jaclyn Stanavich is averaging 13.7 points per game on 45.0 percent shooting with a team-high 1.8 steals per game to go along with 5.3 rebounds per game. Sophomore Molly Boek is averaging 5.5 points per game and 3.7 rebounds per game and sophomore Amani Abuhatab is netting 11.8 points per game on a team-best 52.3 percent shooting. Sophomore Grace Lesko is fourth on the team averaging 10.3 points per game and is tied for the team lead with 6.2 rebounds per game. Mercy is ranked No. 35 nationally in scoring defense (57.3) and No. 20 in three-point percentage defense (25.9). Abuhatab and Lesko were named to the ECC Honor Roll on Monday. Barrera and Lesko were named to the ECC Honor Roll on last week. Barrera and Abuhatab were named to the ECC Honor Roll on February 3rd. Barrera and Lesko were named to the ECC Honor Roll on January 27th. Lesko was named ECC Rookie of the Week for the fourth time on January 20th and Barrera was tabbed to the Honor Roll. Barrera was also named MBWA Division II-III Player of the Week Honorable Mention on January 21st. Lesko was named MBWA Division II-III Player of the Week Honorable Mention on January 14th. Lesko was named ECC Rookie of the Week on January 6th and was tabbed MBWA Division II-III Player of the Week Honorable Mention on January 7th. Barrera was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week on January 6th and Stanavich was named to the Honor Roll. Stanavich was named to the ECC Honor Roll on December 23rd and Abuhatab and Stanavich were named to the ECC Honor Roll on December 16th. Lesko was named ECC Rookie of the Week on December 9th and Stanavich was tabbed to the Honor Roll. Barrera was named to the ECC Honor Roll on December 2nd and Abuhatab and Barrera were named to the ECC Honor Roll on November 25th. Stanavich and Barrera were named to the ECC Honor Roll on November 11th and Abuhatab and Stanavich were tabbed to the Honor Roll on November 18th. Mercy is 13-26 in their last 39 meetings against Queens but have won three straight meetings and are 7-2 in the last nine meetings. The Mavericks look to sweep the regular season series with Queens for the third straight year. With a win, Mercy would secure their fifth straight ECC Championship berth. The Mavericks are receiving votes in the latest D2CSC East Region Poll.
Scouting the Knights
Queens is coming off a 61-52 loss at Daemen on Sunday for their fifth loss in six games. The Knights were picked seventh in the ECC Preseason Poll after going 8-19 last season. Queens is led by three-time ECC Player of the Week and four-time Defensive Player of the Week Nkiru Awaka who is averaging a team-high 13.0 points and 11.4 rebounds per game on 57.7 percent shooting. Four-time ECC Rookie of the Week Ashley Chio is averaging 8.8 points per game and Arianna Lopez is netting 8.3 points per game. Chio averages a team-high 3.3 assists per game and Awaka averages a team-high 1.5 blocks per game.
Next Game
Mercy hosts Molloy for Senior Day on Saturday, February 22nd at 12 p.m.
