Mercer University
Furman
Women's Basketball Grabs 61-50 Win Over Furman
1/30/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Mercer University women's basketball team defeated Furman, 61-50, on Saturday afternoon to remain in first place in the Southern Conference. Kahlia Lawrence and Linnea Rosendal led Mercer with 26 and 16 points, respectively.
Cierra Carter led Furman with 16 points and 15 rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Furman opened the game with a 9-0 run, stifling Mercer's offense for the first 3:58 of the period. The Bears hit a pair of back-to-back jumpers to cut the Paladins' lead to 9-4, but Furman answered with another 10-4 run to close out the quarter and take an 19-8 lead at the end of the period. Mercer turned the tables on Furman in the second period, opening the quarter with a 7-0 spurt that cut the Paladins' lead to 19-15. After a quick five Furman points, Mercer used another 11-0 run to close out the half and take the lead, 26-24 at intermission.
The Paladins hit the first basket of the second half, but the Bears went on a 13-0 run that lasted 3:05 and put Mercer up 39-26. Mercer maintained its double-digit lead for the remainder of the third quarter and entered the final 10:00 of play with a 47-34 advantage. A 10-4 Furman run at the start of the fourth quarter cut Mercer's lead to 51-44 with 6:20 to play. The teams went back-and-forth for the rest of the game, but the Bears' continued to outscore the Paladins, 10-6, to stretch their lead to 61-50 as the clock wound down.
STAT OF THE GAME
Sydni Means notched a career-high seven steals, which is also an individual season high for the Bears.
NOTABLES
- Kahlia Lawrence led Mercer with 26 points and eight rebounds. Lawrence hit 20+ points for the ninth time this season and the 14th time in her career. She also had two steals and a block.
- Linnea Rosendal notched 16 points and two rebounds for the Bears.
- Sydni Means recorded a career-high seven steals as well as eight points, eight assists and four rebounds.
- Alex Williams pulled down a team-high-tying eight rebounds and added three points.
- Amanda Thompson tallied seven rebounds, six points and a steal.
- Rachel Selph added four rebounds, two points and a steal.
- Mercer shot 38.7 percent from the field, including 42.9 percent from outside the three-point line. The Bears held the Paladins to 34.5 percent from the field and just 22.2 percent from outside the arc.
- Furman narrowly edged Mercer in rebounds, 41-40.
- Mercer won the turnover battle handily, recording just 10 in comparison to Furman's 22. Mercer also scored 21 points off of Furman turnovers.
QUOTABLES
"We got off to a slow start, but what was awesome was after the first quarter, I looked at the team on the bench and they were so calm and Sydni said, 'We're okay, Coach.' And I feel like that is the direction this program is growing. We didn't panic and we played hard the entire game. Furman had a run in the fourth quarter and we just stayed the course. The only tough part to swallow was the free throw percentage, but fortunately for us, that wasn't the deciding factor of the game." – Head Coach Susie Gardner
RECORDS UPDATE
Mercer improves to 16-6 overall and 6-1 in SoCon play, while Furman moves to 11-11 on the season and 4-3 in conference games.
UP NEXT
Mercer returns to Hawkins Arena to host Western Carolina on Thursday, Feb. 4 at 7:00 p.m.
For all the latest information on Mercer women's basketball, please visit MercerBears.com or, for up-to-the-minute updates, follow Mercer basketball on Twitter and Instagram at @MercerWBB or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Mercerwbb.
