Mercy Overtakes Wilmington Women’s Basketball, 62-52, with Big Run Down the Stretch in Nonconference Action

Mercy Overtakes Wilmington Women’s Basketball, 62-52, with Big Run Down the Stretch in Nonconference Action

The Mercy women's basketball team used a 12-0 run over the final 3:31 to steal a 62-52 victory from Wilmington University on Saturday afternoon at the Mercy Gymnasium.

The Wildcats held as large as a nine-point lead with 4:33 to play in the first half and went into the halftime break holding a 30-27 lead before falling at the end. Three straight free throws from Tenicia Spence gave the Wildcats a 52-50 lead with 4:18 to play, but that would be the final points the Wildcats would get on Saturday afternoon.

A three-pointer by Mercy's Erin Copeland gave the home team a 53-52 lead with 3:31 remaining in regulation, starting a 12-0 run for the Mavericks that gave them the 10-point victory.

Spence converted a three-point play with 6:59 remaining in the first half to start a 5-0 run with all points coming from Spence as she gave the Wildcats a 24-16 lead with 6:37 to play in the opening period.

Taylor Carter hit a three-pointer, one of her four on the afternoon, with 4:33 to give the Wildcats their largest lead of the game, 27-18, in the first half. Tashea Plummer put in a layup for a 29-22 lead with 3:00 minutes to play before the Mavericks went on a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to two with 1:10 left in the half. Spence hit the front end of a pair of free throws to head into the halftime break, 30-27.

Mercy took their first lead with a three-point with 15:13 to play, but Carter came back down and hit a three-pointer to give the Wildcats a 35-34 lead once more with 14:46 to play.

The teams were on the see-saw starting with a Jennifer Carr jumper with 5:54 to play before the Mavericks took the final lead with 3:31 left on the scoreboard.

Spence led all scorers with 21 points while Carter went 4-for-7 from beyond the three-point line for 12 points off the bench. Carr led the Wildcats with seven rebounds while Spence collected six boards and dished out three assists. Jocelyn Rodriguez passed out a team high four assists.

The Wildcats shot 31.7 percent from the floor while the Mavericks shot 31.5 percent for the game. The Mavericks hit 21-of-22 from the foul line, however, while the Wildcats only went 6-for-11 from the charity stripe for the game.

Wilmington turned 30 Maverick turnovers into 22 points as Carr led all Wildcats with four steals. The Mavericks turned 21 Wilmington turnovers into 20 points overall.