The Mercy Women’s Basketball team has got off to a tough start in 2021 as they lost their first five games of the season. The Mavericks will look to bounce back on Wednesday when they face ECC rival St. Thomas Aquinas college, who are 4-5 with all four of their wins coming from in-conference opponents.

Let’s talk about the first five games as a whole, the Mavericks started the season off by playing back-to-back games against the Molloy College Lions. They lost both games by double-digit points. Molloy dominated the Mavericks on the boards in both games as the lions outrebounded the Mavs  41-27 in game one and 37-31 in game two.

Second-year guard Katie Wall was the only player for the Mavs in the first game to score double-digit points with 10. While Kellie Nudd contributed big time on the boards with four rebounds and a block.

After losing two straight to the Molloy College Lions, the Mavs lost to the St. Thomas Aquinas Spartans 63-46 who were outrebounded again 45-33.

Freshman guard Asya Brandon expressed how the inexperience of the team has caused the team to struggle early on in the season. “Since there were three freshmen including myself coming in & two transfers. I feel as though it’s just been a lot of adjusting, as well as for the girls that have been here, just getting to know one another on the court. The last few games I feel that we were just having a slow start to our season but, we’ve been in the gym and working hard.”

Brandon scored a career-high 16 points in the team’s loss to Daemen College last Sunday. “We are definitely getting better with the chemistry and we are just trying to improve and get better in each game. Just looking to build and get better whether it’s on the defensive end or the offensive or both.”

Mercy dropped two to Daemen College who are in first place in the East Coast Conference. The Daemen Wildcats are the clear cut best in the ECC currently as they are the defending ECC champions. Five Wildcats scored double-digit points in their game one win on Saturday. Mikayla Ivy had 17 points, Alahna Paige had 13 points, Katie Titus had 12 points, Caroline White had 11 points and Marina Maerkl also had 10 points off the bench.

As for the Mavericks, stand-out sophomore Katie Wall was the only one to have a double-digit-point game with 16 points while also grabbing five rebounds and two steals. 6-foot-1 Brianna Lee didn’t have a pretty stat line but she was a force on defense as her presence was known on the defensive side of the ball, playing solid in-paint defense.

In-game two it was pretty much the same story as the Daemen Wildcats dominated the Mavericks for a second straight game. ECC defensive player of the week, Katie Titus, dropped a whopping 22 points while also snagging seven boards. Caroline White also had another double-digit point game with 18 points going 8 for 11 from the field. Two of those 11 shots coming from the three-point line.

Sunday was more of a struggle for the Mavericks. Asya Brandon stepped up and dropped a career-high 16 points off the bench. The Mavericks lost 79-45.

On Wednesday, the Mavericks will be home to host the St. Thomas Aquinas Spartans in Dobbs Ferry. It will be a rematch for them after losing to the Spartans just a week ago 63-46.

Some notable players to look out for the Spartans are Alexa Huertas, who had 17 points in these two teams’ last affair. Also, Julia Reggio and Victoria Kurisko. The Spartans are the second-place team in the conference right now with a 4-2 record. They look to bounce back after losing to the Molloy Lions on Sunday by eight.

After her career-high game, Asya Brandon is hopeful the Mavericks can get their first win and potentially upset the Spartans on Wednesday. “As we get ready for St. Thomas Aquinas, I feel we’re going to focus in & really try to bring the energy we brought this weekend as well as focus on our defensive side as well as focusing on our offensive end rotating the ball, getting good shots… Letting the offense flow on our end.”

The game is on Wednesday at 5 PM. Families and fans are not allowed to attend the game so you can live stream the game through Mercyathletics.com.