Girls Basketball Defeats Mercy with Comeback

The women’s basketball team came back from a 14-point deficit to come away with a 74-68 win over Mercy College during a home thriller Feb. 8.

The Pioneers were able to snap a three game losing streak with five girls tallying point totals in the double digits. Sophomore guard Shannon Doyle led the team in total points and assists with 15 and 7, respectively. Junior guard Kristen Olsen and freshman forward Mikaiya Patterson both scored 14 points for the Pioneers, and senior guard Kylie Garret and sophomore forward Sasha Patterson each had ten points.

It was a battle for the lead early in the game, with the two teams tied at 18 at the end of the first quarter. Mercy dominated the majority of the second quarter, pulling away to a 14-point lead with only 1:40 left to play in the first half. The Pioneers were able to battle back with an 8-0 run over Mercy and went into the half down by six points.

Coach Deirdre Moore said she told the girls during halftime to “try to keep the energy and the effort high, try to get easy shots, close shots, and we have to get stops on defense.”

That high energy was visible as both teams were in another tug-of- war for the lead during the third quarter and the game entered the final quarter tied at 53.

The Pioneers continued to battle during the fourth quarter and took their largest lead of eight points with 4:26 to play. They never relinquished their lead and came away with a 74-68 win over Mercy College.

The Pioneers are now 10-13 overall and 6-7 in the East Coast Conference. They only have five more games left in the regular season, all East Coast Conference match-ups, before they compete in the first round of the conference championship on March 1.