Mercer University
Jacksonville
Reserves Shine in Loss at Jacksonville
2/20/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Freshman guard Ariel Barnes scored a career-high 13 points as the Bears were edged by Jacksonville, 64-61 in Sunday afternoon's Atlantic Sun women's basketball game at the Veterans Memorial Center.
With the loss, Mercer fell to 2-25 (2-16 A-Sun) and was mathematically eliminated from contention for the Atlantic Sun conference tournament. Jacksonville moved to 13-14 (8-10 A-Sun) with its second-straight win.
Mercer's bench outscored the Jacksonville reserves, 27-16, led by Barnes' 13 and freshman Amber Chatmon's eight points. Senior Kourtney Carter chipped in six on three-of-five shooting from the field.
After taking a seven point lead into halftime (33-26), Mercer stumbled at the start of the second half and Jacksonville quickly erased its deficit, knotting the score at 38 apiece with 17:02 to go.
With 10:13 on the clock, a layup for Mercer's Sharnea Boykin pushed the Bears' lead back to five (52-47), but Mercer would go scoreless for the next 5:55 of play.
With 1:35 left, Jacksonville had taken its biggest lead of the second half (61-57) before Mercer's Brittnee Hazel collected an offensive rebound and scored a put-back.
A free throw for Jacksonville made the Dolphins' lead three with 26 tics remaining and Mercer freshman Briana Williams missed a three pointer that would have tied the game. Barnes came away with the rebound and scored quickly, closing the Bears to within one (62-61) with seven seconds left.
Jacksonville's Jessica George hit two free throws and Boykin's last-second heave came up short, allowing the Dolphins to escape with the victory.
Hazel scored 15 of her team-high 17 points in the second half, including eight of Mercer's first 11 points in the final frame. The Loganville, Ga. native also booked seven rebounds, a steal and a pair of blocks in the loss.
In the first half, foul trouble for Mercer post players resulted in the coaching staff electing to go with a smaller lineup. Both Barnes and Chatmon responded admirably, each eclipsing career-high scoring marks in the first half. Barnes hit five of her first six field goals en route to 11 first half points while Chatmon was three-of-four for six points.
Mercer sophomore Alex Phillips recorded a block in the loss, moving her season total to 40. Phillips is now tied with Jessica Miller for fifth place among the program's single-season leaders.
Mercer is back in action against Belmont on Thursday, February 24 at the University Center. Game time is scheduled for 5 p.m.
