DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Feb. 9, 2025) – Despite a team-high 11 points from junior Angelina Barrera (Gloucester City, N.J./Gloucester Catholic), the Mercy University women's basketball team dropped a 56-40 decision to regionally-ranked ECC foe Daemen University on Sunday afternoon at the Neil Judge Student Athlete Center.
The Mavericks (13-8, 7-4 ECC) see their three-game winning streak come to an end and fall to the Wildcats (16-6, 12-0 ECC) for the third straight time.
Mercy was led by Barrera who had a team-high 11 points with seven rebounds and two assists. Barrera recorded her 500th career rebound and now has 503 rebounds in her career. Sophomore Grace Lesko (Northampton, Pa./Northampton Area) recorded nine points and a team-high eight rebounds and freshman Caitlin Leary (Carle Place, N.Y./Carle Place) added a career-high nine points with two steals. Freshman Morgan Miller (Branford, Conn./Sacred Heart Academy) contributed a career-high five points and junior Megan Marcotte (Enfield, Conn./Enfield) had four points. Sophomore Molly Boek (Saugerties, N.Y./Saugerties) scored two points.
Daemen was led by Claire Pikett who had a game-high 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Mercy jumped out to a 7-2 lead after two Barrera free throws with 2:41 left in the first quarter. Daemen scored the next five points to tie the game at 7-7 before baskets from Barrera and Lesko gave the Mavericks an 11-7 lead after the first quarter.
A Miller layup to open the second quarter gave Mercy a 13-7 lead with 9:12 left in the first half. A Lesko layup at the 7:03 mark gave the Mavericks a 15-11 lead before the Wildcats scored the next five points to take a 16-15 lead with 5:21 on the clock. Back-to-back baskets from Marcotte gave Mercy a 19-16 lead with 3:13 left in the quarter. A Barrera jumper later gave the Mavericks a 21-18 lead before a Sophie Auer jumper cut Mercy's lead to 21-20 at halftime.
Daemen scored the first four points of the third quarter to take a 24-21 lead, leading to a Mercy timeout. Following the timeout, the Mavericks went on an 8-2 run to take a 29-26 lead after a Leary free throw with 4:43 left in the quarter. The Wildcats stormed back on a 10-0 run to take a 36-29 lead at the 1:29 mark before a Miller three-point play cut the Daemen lead to four, 36-32, after three quarters.
A Boek layup to open the fourth quarter got the Mavericks to within two, 36-34, with 9:30 left. The Wildcats recorded the next 11 points to increase their lead to 13, 47-34, with 3:14 remaining. A Barrera three-point play made it 47-37, but Daemen scored the next nine points to build their lead to a game-high 19 points, 56-37, with 23 seconds left and held on for the 56-40 win.
Mercy shot 33.3 percent (15-of-45) from the floor, 18.2 percent (2-of-11) from downtown and 57.1 percent (8-of-14) from the foul line. Daemen shot 43.9 percent (25-of-57) from the field, 22.2 percent (4-of-18) from beyond the arc and 100.0 percent (2-of-2) from the foul line. Daemen held a 36-29 edge on the glass.
Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, February 12th when they play at Staten Island at 5:30 p.m.
