DOBBS FERRY, NY – The D'Youville University women's basketball team lost a tightly-contested matchup to Mercy University on Friday night, falling to the Mavericks 57-55.
 
Stella Mollica (Shillington, Pa.) led the Saints in scoring with 12 points and added three steals on the defensive side. Jaelyn Vleer-Elliott (Waterville, N.Y.) followed with 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Sofie Fuglsang (Oberanven, Luxembourg) and Mercy Lasu (Innisfil, Canada) also chipped in ten and seven points, respectively.
 
The Saints got off to a quick 4-0 start thanks to layups from Brianne Moxley (Penfield, N.Y.) and Anna Jankovic (Averill Park, N.Y.). A 6-0 run from the Mavericks put them in front 6-4 with 4:45 left in the first quarter. A mid-range jumper from put a stop to the run, and the teams traded baskets for the remainder of the quarter, with Mercy taking a 12-10 lead entering the second quarter of play.
 
Mercy took control in the second quarter, going on a 12-0 run over the first five minutes of the quarter. Morgan Giancaterino (Orchard Park, N.Y.) finally put an end to the drought, cashing in a free throw to make it a 24-11 deficit with 4:56 to go in the quarter. After the Mavericks scored four straight, Fuglsang drained a three-pointer to make it 28-14 with 3:33 until halftime. A layup from Moxley sent the Saints to halftime trailing 31-16.
 
The Saints started to chip away at the Mavericks' lead in the third quarter, starting out the half on an 11-2 run. Fuglsang started the run with a three-pointer, followed by two layups from Vleer-Elliott. Mollica and Lasu each scored to bring D'Youville within six. Later in the quarter, Lasu drilled a three-ball to bring the Saints within five heading into the final frame.
 
D'Youville surged ahead of Mercy with a 10-0 run to open the fourth quarter. A layup from Moxley gave them a 42-41 lead with 7:27 to go. A Fuglsang jumper extended the lead to 44-41 at the 6:47 mark. Mercy retook the lead with 4:12 to go, but Vleer-Elliott tipped the score back in DYU's favor with a layup with 3:17 left in regulation. Two free throws from Carla Torrubia Cano (Melilla, Spain) evened the score at 52-all with a minute and a half to go. A three-point play from Mollica put the Saints in front 55-54 with just thirty seconds to play. The Mavericks went down and scored a layup with fourteen seconds left, and a free throw with one second left solidified the victory for Mercy.
 
D'Youville is back in action Sunday afternoon, when they travel over to St. Thomas Aquinas College for an ECC matchup at 1:00 p.m.