DOBBS FERRY, N.Y.  – The Mercy University Women's Basketball Team plays at ECC foe St. Thomas Aquinas College on Saturday, January 31st at 1 p.m.

Who, When and Where

Date/Time: Saturday, January 31st 1 p.m.

Records: Mercy (14-5, 8-1 ECC), St. Thomas Aquinas (5-15, 3-6 ECC)

Location: Sparkill, N.Y.

Last Meeting vs. St. Thomas Aquinas

Mercy earned an 82-65 win over STAC on March 1, 2025.

Scouting the Mavericks

Mercy enters the 2025-26 season picked second in the ECC Preseason Poll after going 18-10 last season. The Mavericks advanced to the ECC Championship Semifinals for the second straight year for the first time in program history. Mercy has won 17 or more games for three straight seasons for the first time since 1982-86. The Mavericks have won double-digit ECC games for three straight years for the first time ever. Mercy is looking to win their first ECC Championship and qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three seasons. Mercy looks to qualify for the ECC Championship for the sixth straight season.

Leading the 12 returners for Head Coach Scott Lagas is senior Angelina Barrera who was named First Team All-Met and First Team All-ECC last season. The 2024 ECC Defensive Player of the Year averaged 13.5 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. Junior Grace Lesko returns after being named ECC Rookie of the Year, Third Team All-ECC and All-Met Honorable Mention last year. Lesko netted 11.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per game in 2024-25. Junior Amani Abuhatab is back after being named Second Team All-ECC and All-Met Honorable Mention last year. Abuhatab recorded 12.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game a year ago. Senior Kyla Nembach also returns after sitting out last year due to injury. Nembach averaged 4.9 points and 1.4 assists per game during the 2023-24 season.

Also, returning is junior Molly Boek who averaged 5.3 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. Sophomores Caitlin Leary and Morgan Miller also return after averaging 3.1 and 2.5 points per game, respectively. Senior Megan Marcotte returns in the frontcourt after netting 2.2 points and 2.3 rebounds per game last year and juniors Paige Fourtin and Layla Greene are back in Dobbs Ferry after averaging 1.9 and 1.1 points per game last year. Sophomores Sophia Hoyt and Gabrielle Martin return after combining to play in 35 minutes with six points and six rebounds.

Lagas also brings in six newcomers to the fold. Sophomore Haylee Ellwood joins the Mavericks from fellow ECC school Daemen University. Ellwood was named All-League twice at Sacred Heart Academy. Sophomore Ella Summers transfers in from Australia and freshman Saige Youngberg joins the Mavericks from Worcester Academy in Massachusetts. Freshman Allie Regan was an 1,000 point scorer at Framingham High School in Massachusetts and freshman Ella Wilson joins the Mavericks after scoring over 1,500 points at Lake Lehman High School. Rounding out the newcomers is freshman Emily Thornton who was a three-time Regional Champion and one-time State Runner-Up at Albany Academy.

Mercy is coming off a 71-54 win at Molloy on Saturday for their ninth straight win. The Mavericks were led by senior Angelina Barrera who had a game-high 21 points. Mercy has been led by junior Grace Lesko who is averaging a team-high 17.9 points per game with 6.9 rebounds per game on 42.5 percent shooting. Lesko is currently second in the ECC in points per game. Junior Amani Abuhatab is second on the team with 13.2 points per game with 4.5 rebounds per game. Senior Kyla Nembach averages 4.1 points per game and dishes out 2.6 assists per game. Senior Megan Marcotte is averaging 3.3 points per game and averages 4.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.7 blocks per game. Sophomore Sophia Hoyt is averaging 5.6 points per game and 4.7 rebounds per game and sophomore Morgan Miller is netting 6.7 points per game. Barrera is averaging 12.1 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. Barrera recorded her 100th career block at Molloy on January 24th, becoming the fifth Maverick in program history to reach the mark. Barrera is also six points shy of 1,000 for her career. She would become the 22nd Maverick in program history to record 1,000 career points. Barrera was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday and Lesko was named to the Honor Roll. Hoyt was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week and Lesko was named to the Honor Roll last week. Lesko was also named MBWA Division II-III Player of the Week Honorable Mention. Lesko was named ECC Co-Player of the Week on January 12th and Barrera and Miller were named to the Honor Roll. Lesko was also named MBWA Division II-III Player of the Week Honorable Mention. Barrera was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week on January 5th and Lesko was named to the Honor Roll. Lesko was named to the ECC Honor Roll on December 22nd. Lesko and Abuhatab were named to the ECC Honor Roll on December 15th and Lesko was named MBWA Division II-III Player of the Week Honorable Mention on December 16th. Lesko was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week last week and Abuhatab was named to the Honor Roll. Lesko was also named MBWA Division II-III Co-Player of the Week last week. Lesko was named to the ECC Honor Roll last week. Lesko was named to the ECC Honor Roll on November 24th. Lesko was named ECC Player of the Week on November 17th and Abuhatab was tabbed to the Honor Roll. Mercy is 10-34 in their last 44 meetings against STAC but have won the last four meetings. The Mavericks are off to their best start since the 1985-86 season when they started 15-4. Mercy is off to their best ECC start since the 2021-22 season when they also started 8-1. With a win, Mercy would start 9-1 in ECC play for the first time in program history. The Mavericks look to win their 10th straight game for the first time since the 2023-24 season.

Scouting the Spartans

STAC is coming off a 59-53 win at Queens on Saturday. The Spartans were picked fifth in the ECC Preseason Poll after going 4-22 last season. STAC has been led by Bailey Chapman who is averaging a team-high 11.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. Jona Kabashi is second on the team with 8.8 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. Toni Schuetze and Cassidy Mahaney both average 7.7 points per game.

Next Game

Mercy hosts Felician on Thursday, February 5th at 5 p.m.