The Mercer women’s basketball team lost another game to out-of-region opponent SUNY Sullivan on Tuesday, November 13. This comes soon after Mercer lost to the team in a November 3 away game that was part of the Sullivan Invitational Tournament in New York state.
Mercer’s team, with a roster of only nine players, consists of six newcomers: five freshmen and one sophomore.
With little senior leadership and multiple injured players, the Vikings were in trouble before the game even started.
While Sullivan could handle setbacks such as two players fouling out of the game, for example, Mercer did not have the number of subs necessary to absorb any similar blows.
Vikings head coach Mike Tenaglia, who is entering his twenty-eighth season with the team, said ”Two of our girls were hobbling around out there and two others decided that they didn’t really want to play this year.”
Tenaglia continued, “I think physically [the players] get tired, and when you get tired you make mistakes.”
Despite those mistakes, Mercer still came very close to a win. Sophomore Tylisha Livingston alone put up 26 points, more than half of the team’s total points.
In fact, the game was tied at 51 to 51 until the final 1.6 seconds, at which point Sullivan was able to drain a clutch 3-pointer and pull off the win. The lead changed hands a total of seven times over the course of the game.
Sullivan Head Coach Daniel Lang said, “Mentally, we were prepared and focused for everything.”
He continued “We changed a few things, as far as defensively [from the last game], but [Mercer] did a good job of countering that with whatever changes they made…They get to the line and make you play.”
Stand out offensive performances from Sullivan’s team came from freshmen Jayda Allen and Traynise Livingston, who combined their efforts for a total of 25 points. Freshman Jade Walls dominated the court, ending the game with 13 rebounds on the books.
According to Coach Tenaglia, “[Mercer’s team] has good basketball IQ to a degree…they’re really motivated to play and to hustle, which is always a good thing.”
Tenaglia continued, “If we were a little more patient we might have got a better shot and we might have got that girl before she could shoot the three.”
