Mercer University
Jacksonville
Comeback Falls Short in 71-67 Loss to Jacksonville
1/4/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer women's basketball team erased an 18-point second-half deficit Saturday afternoon, but a layup with 10 seconds remaining propelled Jacksonville to a 71-67 victory inside Hawkins Arena on the opening weekend of Atlantic Sun Conference action.
Mercer's four-game winning streak comes to an end as the Bears (8-5, 1-1 A-Sun) fall for just the second time in their last nine conference home games, while the Dolphins (5-8, 2-0 A-Sun) capture back-to-back road wins and jump to the top of the league standings.
Trailing by 18 points with 14:22 remaining in the second half, Mercer chipped away at the lead and cut the advantage to single digit with six minutes remaining before furious rally in the final minute tied the game with 29 seconds left. Briana Williams led the charge with eight points in a three-minute span, while Teanna Robinson hit one of two free throws to knot the score for the first time since the opening half.
After the Bears forced a turnover with 14 seconds left, Mercer called timeout to set up a play, but an errant pass led to a layup the other way and a pair of late free throws gave Jacksonville a 71-67 victory on the road.
Mercer held an early 6-4 lead in the contest, but Jacksonville quickly responded and used a 9-0 run, capped by a layup from Queen Alford to give the Dolphins a 13-6 advantage.
JU would extend its lead to 13 points as the Bears went 10 consecutive minutes without a field goal before a Kendra Grant hit a jumper in the lane to end the drought and jump start the Mercer offense. The Bears scored seven of the next nine points to cut the deficit to eight and the Dolphins took a 33-23 lead into intermission.
Jacksonville continued to click on all cylinders in the opening minutes of the second half and pushed its lead out 18 points before the Bears came all the way back to knot the score in the final seconds.
Precious Bridges led all scorers with 19 points as she finished the contest with 998 career points, while Robinson recorded her second double-double of the year with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
The Bears return to action next Thursday, traveling to Northern Kentucky for the first two straight A-Sun road games. Tip-off against the Norse is slated for 7 p.m. at The Bank of Kentucky Center.
