Strong Fourth Quarter Propels Bears Past Owls

Friday, November 18

Macon, Ga.

7:00 PM ET

Mercer University

3-1, 0-0SoCon

Florida Atlantic

-21, 00 CUSA

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Florida Atlantic	14	13	23	7	57
Mercer	22	12	20	20	74

PDF Box Score

Photo courtesy of Judy Stapleton

Photo by: Judy Stapleton

Strong Fourth Quarter Propels Bears Past Owls

11/18/2016 10:13:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

MACON, Ga. – Kahlia Lawrence topped her season-high for the second straight game as she scored 34 points to lead the Mercer women's basketball team past Florida Atlantic, 74-57, on Friday night.

KeKe Calloway and Sydni Means added 15 and 14 points, respectively, as the trio of double-digit scorers led the Bears.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The game started slow offensively as Mercer and FAU traded baskets for the first three minutes before the Bears used a 10-0 spurt to go up 16-6 midway through the first period. The Owls outscored the Bears 8-6 to close out the quarter but Mercer held on to the 22-14 advantage.

Florida Atlantic opened the second quarter with a quick four points to cut Mercer's lead to 22-18. The Bears used another 10-2 run to stretch their lead back to double-digits, 32-20, with 4:24 remaining in the half. Once again, FAU closed the period strong with a 7-2 run, but Mercer stayed on top, 34-27, heading into halftime.

The Owls carried their momentum into the second half, using a 13-6 run to tie the game, 40-40, with six minutes to play in the period. Over the next three minutes, there were three lead changes and three ties before the Calloway sparked an 8-0 spurt to give the Bears some breathing room and a 52-46 advantage. FAU refused to give in, as it used a 9-3 run into the fourth quarter to knot the score again, 55-55, with 8:18 on the clock.

Lawrence hit a jumper to spark a 19-0 Mercer run, during which the junior scored 14 of the Bears' points as Mercer worked its way to a 74-55 lead. Florida Atlantic scored the final points of the game to move the score to 74-57.

NOTABLES

Kahlia Lawrence notched a season-high 34 points, four rebounds, three steals and an assist. Lawrence reached double-figures for the fourth time this season and topped 30 points for the third time in her career.
KeKe Calloway recorded 15 points, a season-high six rebounds, two assists and a block for the Bears. Calloway joins Lawrence as the only two players to score in double-digits in every game this season.
Sydni Means added a season-high 14 points, a season-high-tying eight assists, three rebounds and a steal.
Alex Williams tallied nine points, a season-high five rebounds, a block and a steal.
Amanda Thompson grabbed a season-high nine rebounds and added a career-high-tying three steals, an assist and a block.
Kayla Potts had two points, five rebounds and an assist.
Mercer shot 41.3 percent from the field while holding FAU to 38.3 percent.
The Bears won the turnover battle, 3-22, committing a season-low three turnovers. Mercer also scored 28 points off FAU turnovers.

COACH GARDNER'S TAKE
General thoughts on the game…
"It's really good to have Kahlia Lawrence on your team. I thought we played really well the first quarter once again and we did not play great in the third quarter, which we've got to figure out, but we finished strong in the fourth. They fought and battled, got rebounds when we needed them and Kahlia hit big shots. Florida Atlantic is a really good basketball team and I'm really proud of these guys."

On committing just three turnovers and winning the turnover battle…
"Three turnovers against any team for 40 minutes is amazing. That's just a credit to our point guard, Sydni Means. Our other player also did a great job. That's a huge stat and was a big part of our win."

RECORDS UPDATE

Mercer: 3-1, 0-0 SoCon
Florida Atlantic: 2-1, 0-0 C-USA

UP NEXT
The Bears are hitting the road to take on Illinois on Tuesday, Nov. 22 at 8 p.m. in Champaign, Ill.

How to Follow the Bears:
For complete coverage of Mercer Women's Basketball, please follow the Bears on social media at @MercerWBB (Twitter), /MercerWBB (Facebook) and @MercerWBB (Instagram) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com.