Mavericks Upset Dowling, 73-67, With Dramatic Finish In League-Opener
December 2, 2009
Mavericks Upset Dowling, 73-67, With
Dramatic Finish In League-Opener
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Delmara Reece. |
Junior Delmara Reece tallies second double-double with 21 points, 20 boards.
OAKDALE, N.Y. – With 21 points and 20 rebounds, junior Delmara Reece (Yonkers, N.Y./Saunders) led the way for the Mercy College women’s basketball team to their first win of the season with a 73-67 victory over the previously undefeated and East Coast Conference-foe, Dowling, on Wednesday night at Golden Lion Gymnasium.
Reece’s double-double was her second of the season. The junior shot 10-for-17 from the floor and tallied 17 defensive boards.
With the win, the Mavericks and first-year head coach Kelli Dunlay advance to 1-3 overall and 1-0 in the ECC. The Golden Lions fall to 3-1 overall and 0-1 in the league.
The Mavericks led for most of the first half with the score being tied just once and the lead changing only three times. Turnover points were the key to the game as the Mavericks scored 20 points off Golden Lion turnovers; while Dowling only sunk 10. In the second half, the score was tied seven times and the lead change eight times before Mercy held on in the final two minutes of play. It came down to free throws in the waning seconds of play for the Mavericks to hold on and post their first win of the season.
Mercy College opened the gap in the early minutes of the contest, jumping to a 10-point, 17-7 lead seven minutes into play. The Golden Lions slowly chipped away at the lead and took their first real lead of the game, 34-33, 20 seconds left in the period. With just nine seconds on the clock, Courtney Cochran (Wilmington, Del./St. Elizabeth) held on to the Maverick momentum and drained a jumper with an assist from Jasmine Williams (Stratford, Conn./Greens Farms Academy) to take back the lead, 35-34 going into the halftime break.
Mercy College held on to the lead into the second half as Dowling slowly crept up behind them. Dowling’s eight-point run in the opening three minutes of play helped them gain a 47-44 advantage over the Mavericks. Junior Ashley Borofsky (Southington, Conn.), en route to second-best team scoring of 13 points, stopped the Golden Lion run with a trey set up by freshman Rachel Ferri (Cranston, R.I./Cranston West) and tied the score at 47. Buckets by Reece and Kaitlin Jetter (Ozone Park, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) extended the Mercy lead 52-49 before a 3-ball from Christie Marrone, who was the team high-scorer with 21 points, tied it up again at 52. Trading baskets and free throws, the Mavericks and Golden Lions tied the game again at 55 before Dowling called a 30-second time out.
A free throw by Reece at 5:28 gave the Mavericks’ another three-point lead, 60-57 before both teams went cold for the next two minutes. Dowling’s Simona Bartkova broke the lull with a layup assisted by Marrone to bring Dowling within one, 60-59 with 3:58 remaining. Reece answered right back and layed it up for two to extend the Mavericks’ lead 62-59 with 3:40 remaining. Once again, Dowling answered back a layup from Kelly Puwalski. Not to be outdone, Reece picked it up again for Mercy with an offensive rebound and put back for two to extend Mercy’s lead 64-61with just over three minutes remaining in regulation.
Marrone tied the game for the eighth time with a 3-pointer to give her 21 points and even the score at 64 with two and a half minutes remaining. A jumper from Borosky gave Mercy back the edge, 66-64, starting a 6-0 run that gave Mercy a 70-64 lead with 30 seconds remaining. Reece capped off the run and layed it up for an easy two to silence Golden Lions Gymnasium.
Dowling hit three-straight free throws to come back 70-67, but Borofsky sunk a shot from the charity stripe and Reece sunk her 21st point of the night to seal the deal on the Mavericks’ first conference win, 73-67.
Ferri had 10 points and three assists in the win. Simone Williams (Waldorf, Md./Waldorf) led the team with six assists. Borofsky was 5-for-9 from the floor, 2-for-3 from the 3-point arc and 1-for-2 from the free throw line. Marrone led the way for the Golden Lions with 21 points, shooting 8-for-23 from the floor and 5-for-12 from the 3-point range. Seja Gamble was second with 19 points.
Next up, the Mavericks will look to capitalize off the momentum from Wednesday’s victory when they travel to C.W. Post on Saturday, Dec. 5 to face the Pioneers at Pratt Recreation Center. Tip off is slated for 1:30 p.m.
