Links: Box Score
Video: Highlights
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Junior
Kate Mager scored a season-high 26 points on five 3-pointers and a pristine 11-of-11 performance at the free throw line as the Merrimack College women's basketball team toppled the Long Island University Sharks, 83-76, on Wednesday afternoon from Hammel Court. The Warriors improved to 2-6 in Northeast Conference (NEC) play with the win while LIU fell to 3-8.
Merrimack led by as many as 12 in the fourth quarter, and led by seven, 75-68, with 4:37 to play in the game. The visitors used a 7-0 run to knot the score at 75-all, but the Warriors responded with an 8-1 run over the final 1:58 of play to emerge victorious. All eight of Merrimack's points during the run came at the line, with Mager making four attempts during the final two minutes.
Mager's 11 free throws are tied for the most in a single game of any player in the NEC this season, and the second most of any NEC player over the last two years. She was one of three Warriors in double figures, joined by sophomore
Diamond Christian (16) and senior
Alyssa Casey (11). Merrimack shot a season-best 48.2 percent (27-56) from the field, including 10-of-23 (.435) from distance.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 83, Long Island 76
Records: Merrimack (2-6, 2-6 NEC) | Long Island (3-8, 3-8 NEC)
Location: North Andover, Mass. | Hammel Court
Rapid Recap
- Sophomore Alana Fursman scored the first four points of the game and Christian added seven of her own while shooting perfectly to get Merrimack's offense going. With the Warriors ahead, 15-14, with under three minutes left in the first quarter, LIU went on a 10-4 run to end the first quarter with a 24-19 advantage
- Trailing by six, 36-30, Merrimack used an 8-0 run in latter portion of the second quarter to regain the lead. DeCesare scored three of the eight points and Mager ended the run with a triple. LIU recovered, however, scoring six of the next eight points to take a 42-38 lead with 26 seconds until halftime. Mager hit the half's final shot, sinking a 3-poiner to trim the deficit to one at intermission
- A 10-2 third quarter run for Merrimack left the Warriors with a 57-50 lead with 4:40 on the clock. After LIU scored five straight to close within two points, the hosts ended the third on an 11-3 run to build their lead to 10. Freshman Teneisia Brown netted four points during the stretch, including a layup that beat the buzzer
- The Sharks began to chip away after senior Mayson Kimball's field goal to start the final quarter gave Merrimack its largest lead at 70-58. The visitors scored seven straight points over a one-minute span to cut their deficit to five points with seven minutes left. Three free throws from Mager ended the run, and a layup for Casey kept Merrimack's edge at seven 75-68, with 4:37 remaining. The Sharks held Merrimack scoreless for nearly three minutes to even the score, but the Warriors closed the game with eight of the final nine points to win
Notes and Numbers
- Mager's 11 free throw and 11 free throw attempts were by far career highs, besting her previous marks of four and five, respectively
- The only NEC player over the last two years to hit more free throws in a game was former teammate Denia Davis-Stewart '20, who hit 14 last year against UNH
- Mager now has seven career 20-point games
- Christian started the game by making her first five shots, finishing with an efficient 16 points on just six field goal attempts. She's scored in double figures in four of eight games after doing so just three times as a freshman
- Merrimack set season highs in points (83), field goal percentage (.482), 3-point field goal percentage (.435) and free throws made (19)
- Eighty-three points is the second most for the Warriors in a single game in their NEC history
- DeCesare tied her career high with seven rebounds. Brown set season bests in both points (6) and rebounds (5) in 11 minutes off the bench
Up Next
Merrimack hosts Central Connecticut State University for two games this weekend, which both begin at 4 p.m. Saturday's contest will be broadcast on
ESPN+
