SPARKILL, N.Y. (Mar. 1, 2025) – Powered by nine different Mavericks scoring, the Mercy University women's basketball team earned an 82-65 win at ECC foe St. Thomas Aquinas College in their regular season finale on Saturday afternoon at Aquinas Hall Gym.

The Mavericks (17-9, 11-5 ECC) have won four games in a row and sweep the season series with the Spartans (4-22, 2-14 ECC) for the first time since the 2022-23 season. Mercy ends the regular season with a winning record for third straight season for the first time since the 1982-86 seasons. Mercy finishes with 11 or more ECC wins in a season for the third straight season for the first time in program history. The Mavericks have earned the No. 3 seed in next week's ECC Championship and will host No. 6 seed University of the District of Columbia on Wednesday, March 5th at 7 p.m.

Mercy was led by sophomore Amani Abuhatab (West Haven, Conn./West Haven) who had a team-high 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting with six rebounds and four assists. Junior Angelina Barrera (Gloucester City, N.J./Gloucester Catholic) had a double-double by way of 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds on 5-of-9 shooting with four assists. Sophomore Molly Boek (Saugerties, N.Y./Saugerties) recorded 11 points and freshman Morgan Miller (Branford, Conn./Sacred Heart Academy) scored a career-high 10 points with five rebounds. Freshman Caitlin Leary (Carle Place, N.Y./Carle Place) had eight points and sophomore Grace Lesko (Northampton, Pa./Northampton Area) had six points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Senior Kayla Halvorsen (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y./Dobbs Ferry) added nine points and junior Megan Marcotte (Enfield, Conn./Enfield) scored six points. Sophomore Layla Greene (Harriman, N.Y./The Storm King School) contributed two points.

STAC was led by Syrita Faraj who had a game-high 22 points.

Mercy jumped out to a 7-2 lead after a Miller layup with 7:15 left in the opening quarter. The Spartans went on an 11-4 run to take a 13-11 lead at the 3:18 mark. The Mavericks closed the quarter on a 9-0 run, finished off by two Miller free throws, to take a 20-13 lead after the first quarter.

The Mavericks opened the second quarter on a 6-0 run, capped off by an Abuhatab three-point play, to take a 26-13 lead with 8:37 left in the half. STAC later cut the Mercy lead to nine, 28-19, with 6:31 on the clock before the Mavericks went on a 4-0 spurt to take a 33-19 lead at the 4:19 mark after an Abuhatab three-point play. A Delaney Finnegan three later cut Mercy's lead to eight, 38-30, but two Greene free throws to close out the half gave Mercy a 40-30 lead at halftime.

The Spartans began the third quarter on an 18-9 run to cut the Mavericks' lead to one, 49-48, with 2:15 left in the quarter. Mercy ended the quarter on an 11-2 run to increase the lead back to 10, 60-50, after a Halvorsen three and headed into the fourth quarter up, 60-50.

A Trinity Cheatom layup made it 64-54 in favor of Mercy with 7:49 left. The Mavericks came back on an 11-4 run, finished off by a Boek three, to take their largest lead of the game, 75-58, with 4:14 left. The Spartans later cut the deficit to 12, 77-65, but Mercy closed the game on a 5-0 run, finished off by a Leary three to earn the 82-65 win.

Mercy shot 47.4 percent (27-of-57) from the floor, 50.0 percent (9-of-18) from downtown and 82.6 percent (19-of-23) from the foul line. STAC shot 40.0 percent (26-of-65) from the field, 29.4 percent (5-of-17) from beyond the arc and 88.9 percent (8-of-9) from the charity stripe. Mercy held a 43-29 edge on the glass.

Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, March 5th when they host District of Columbia in an ECC Women's Basketball Championship First Round matchup at 7 p.m.