FLUSHING, N.Y. (Feb. 19, 2025) – Powered by nine different Mavericks scoring, the Mercy University women's basketball team earned a convincing 77-47 at ECC foe Queens College on Wednesday night at Fitzgerald Gymnasium.
The Mavericks (15-9, 9-5 ECC) have won two games in a row and sweep the regular season series with the Knights (9-14, 4-9 ECC) for the third straight year. Mercy has secured their fifth straight ECC Championship berth and has secured a first round home game on Wednesday, March 5th.
Mercy was led by sophomore Grace Lesko (Northampton, Pa./Northampton Area) who had a team-high 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting with four rebounds. Sophomore Amani Abuhatab (West Haven, Conn./West Haven) had 13 points, five rebounds and four assists and sophomore Layla Greene (Harriman, N.Y./The Storm King School) had a career-high 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting. Freshman Morgan Miller (Branford, Conn./Sacred Heart Academy) recorded a career-high nine points on 3-of-5 shooting with four assists and sophomore Paige Fourtin (Ansonia, Conn./Greens Farms Academy) added eight points on 4-of-6 shooting. Junior Angelina Barrera (Gloucester City, N.J./Gloucester Catholic) scored seven points and freshman Sophia Hoyt (Queens, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) had a career-high five points. Freshman Caitlin Leary (Carle Place, N.Y./Carle Place) contributed four points and sophomore Molly Boek (Saugerties, N.Y./Saugerties) chipped in four points and a team-high eight rebounds.
Queens was led by Nkiru Awaka who had a game-high 18 points and nine rebounds.
Mercy scored the first six points of the game to take a 6-0 lead after a Lesko layup with 6:03 on the clock. The Knights followed with a 10-2 run to take a 10-8 lead with 3:06 remaining in the quarter. The Mavericks closed the quarter on a 9-0 run, capped off by five straight points from Lesko, giving Mercy a 17-10 lead after the first quarter.
Mercy began the second quarter on a 9-2 run to take a 26-12 lead after a Lesko three-point play with 5:17 left in the half. The Knights scored the next five points to make it 26-17 at the 4:16 mark. However, the Mavericks ended the half on an 11-2 run, capped off by a Lesko three, to take a 37-19 lead at halftime.
The Mavericks scored the first 10 points of the third quarter to increase their lead to 28, 47-19, after a Miller layup with 6:45 remaining in the quarter. Queens later made it 47-23 before a Hoyt layup capped a 10-3 run, giving Mercy a 57-26 lead at the 1:15 mark. The Mavericks headed into the fourth quarter with a 57-28 lead.
The Knights made it 69-43 with 4:30 remaining in the fourth quarter before a Greene layup finished off an 8-2 run and gave Mercy a game-high 32-point lead, 77-45, with 25 seconds left. A late Queens basket was not enough, and the Mavericks earned the convincing 77-47 road win.
Mercy shot 52.6 percent (30-of-57) from the floor, 35.7 percent (5-of-14) from downtown and 85.7 percent (12-of-14) from the foul line. Queens shot 34.0 percent (17-of-50) from the field, 20.0 percent (1-of-5) from beyond the arc and 75.0 percent (12-of-16) from the charity stripe. Mercy held a 32-30 edge on the glass. The Mavericks used 21 Queens turnovers to hold a 34-14 edge in points off turnovers.
Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, February 22nd when they host Molloy for Senior Day at 12 p.m.
