NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Result
Thursday, January 31, 2008
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Ashley Finnegan |
New Haven Slips Past Mavericks 72-67
DOBBS FERRY - The Mercy College women's basketball team nearly pulled out a wild one before falling 72-67 against the New Haven Chargers, who remain undefeated in East Coast Conference (ECC) play. The Mavericks record falls to 5-13 overall and 5-7 in the conference.
Freshman forward Ashley Finnegan (Worcester, MA) picked up a double-double with 22 points, going 9-of-12 from the field, and pulling down 12 boards. Junior guard Christina Baxter (Greenwood Lake, NY) scored 22 points and dished out eight assists. Freshman forward Delmara Reece (Yonkers, NY) notched her twelfth double-double of the season with 15 points and 20 rebounds.
The entire first half was very close with neither team leading by more than four points. With 6:38 remaining, Baxter sparked the offense with a strong drive to the basket to tie the game at 23. Baxter then scored the next four points to give the Mavericks a 27-23 lead.
However, moments later junior guard Briiana Rende nailed a three-pointer to tie the game at 29 for the Chargers (12-7 overall, 12-0 ECC). The Mavericks went into the locker room trailing by just one point, 34-33.
The Mavericks came out of the gate quickly in the second half with a jumper by Finnegan and two lay-ups by Baxter. But the Chargers kept pace with Mercy with a trifecta by Rende and a lay-up by Lauren Hood.
With Mercy trailing by three points and 12:32 remaining, Helin Marte nailed a jumper to give the Chargers its biggest lead of the game. Shortly after, Rende hit another shot from downtown to extend the lead to eight, 58-50.
Over the next 6:10 the Mercy offense went cold and didn't make a shot from the field. The Chargers were able to build its lead to nine before Mercy would score again. Nonetheless, the Mavericks rediscovered their strokes with a jumper by Finnegan and then two jumpers by Baxter to cut the lead to 66-63 with 2:56 remaining.
New Haven responded with back-to-back lay-ups by Hood and Marte to build the lead back to seven. Mercy made one more rally, but fell short.
New Haven held the edge in rebounding 47-46. Mercy blocked seven shots, including four from Reece.
Rende led the Chargers in scoring with 23 points and 5-of-7 shooting from behind the arc.
The Mavericks will be in action again on Saturday when they travel to play Dowling at noon.
