Tuesday, November 22
Urbana-Champaign, Ill.
8:00 PM ET
Mercer University
4-1
51
at
33
Illinois
2-3
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercer | 13 | 10 | 15 | 13 | 51 |
| Illinois | 5 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 33 |
Team Stats
MER
ILL
FG%
.288
.228
3FG%
.063
.097
FT%
.667
.667
RB
42
47
TO
6
21
STL
10
0
Game Leaders
Pts
17
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF/G
/ Women's Basketball
Bears Grab Low-Scoring Win Over Illini
11/22/2016 11:10:00 PM | Women's Basketball
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Kahlia Lawrence scored a game-high 17 points to lead the Mercer women's basketball team to a 51-33 win over Illinois on Tuesday night.
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Amanda Thompson added a career-high 11 points and led the Bears with a season-high-tying nine rebounds.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams struggled offensively for the duration of the game, but Mercer started with a 6-0 run to take the lead. The Bears continued to control the first period, leading 13-5 at the end of the quarter. The teams went back-and-forth in the second quarter, but Mercer held on to its lead throughout. Illinois hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to close out the half and cut Mercer's lead to 23-16.
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Overall, neither team scored more than 15 points in a period. The third quarter was the most productive for Mercer as the Bears outscored the Illini 15-10. Illinois slowly chipped away at Mercer's lead, getting as close as five points more than once. After the Illini cut the Bears' advantage to 31-26, Mercer closed out the period with a 7-0 run lasting 3:45 to go up 38-26.
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The Bears maintained their double-digit lead throughout the fourth quarter, as the Illini were only able to get as close as 12 points. The Bears closed out the game with a 6-0 run that moved the final score to 51-33. In the fourth period, Mercer held Illinois to seven points, which was the second quarter of the night in which the Illini failed to reach double-figures.
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NOTABLES
General thoughts on the game…
"I couldn't be more proud of our team. Obviously it was a low-scoring game; not a lot of shots were made by either team. I just thought we fought and Amanda Thompson was a woman inside battling taller post players and she just battled the whole night. I'm proud of Amanda and the way she battled and I thought Kayla went in there and got some big rebounds for us as well. It was a good team win when our shots weren't falling."
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On continuously winning the turnover battle…
"We don't work on it and we don't necessarily emphasize it. It's just something I think that sometimes teams have an identity that that's just what our identity is without us making it a big deal. It starts with Sydni; she sets the tone, but we don't talk about it at all."
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On getting two wins over Power 5 schools in three years…
"I think it's good for our players to have the opportunity to play some of the schools that are in the SEC, ACC, Big Ten, etc. because it's not something they get to do night in and night out. The opportunity to play against these guys and then talk about perhaps after they're graduated from college, 'remember that year we beat Illinois at Thanksgiving in 2016,' and that type of thing. Hopefully it will be good for them as players and also as we continue to prepare for a very, very difficult Southern Conference."
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RECORDS UPDATE
Mercer will wrap up the road trip on Friday at 8 p.m. ET when it takes on the Houston Cougars in Houston, Texas.
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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.
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Amanda Thompson added a career-high 11 points and led the Bears with a season-high-tying nine rebounds.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams struggled offensively for the duration of the game, but Mercer started with a 6-0 run to take the lead. The Bears continued to control the first period, leading 13-5 at the end of the quarter. The teams went back-and-forth in the second quarter, but Mercer held on to its lead throughout. Illinois hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to close out the half and cut Mercer's lead to 23-16.
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Overall, neither team scored more than 15 points in a period. The third quarter was the most productive for Mercer as the Bears outscored the Illini 15-10. Illinois slowly chipped away at Mercer's lead, getting as close as five points more than once. After the Illini cut the Bears' advantage to 31-26, Mercer closed out the period with a 7-0 run lasting 3:45 to go up 38-26.
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The Bears maintained their double-digit lead throughout the fourth quarter, as the Illini were only able to get as close as 12 points. The Bears closed out the game with a 6-0 run that moved the final score to 51-33. In the fourth period, Mercer held Illinois to seven points, which was the second quarter of the night in which the Illini failed to reach double-figures.
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NOTABLES
- Kahlia Lawrence led Mercer with 17 points and added five rebounds, two assists and a steal. Lawrence is the only Mercer player to reach double-digits in all five games this season.
- Amanda Thompson notched career highs of 11 points and four steals, while tying her season high of nine rebounds.
- KeKe Calloway tallied nine points, a season-high seven rebounds, a block and a steal.
- Linnea Rosendal added five points and a season-high four rebounds.
- Kayla Potts tied her season highs of four points, six rebounds and one steal and dished out a season-high two assists.
- Sydni Means notched four points, six rebounds, four assists and a season-high-tying three steals.
- Mercer pulled down a season-high 42 rebounds and tied its season high of 10 steals.
- Mercer once again won the turnover battle, 6-21.
- The Bears held the Illini to 33 points, the lowest offensive output for a Mercer opponent since Wofford scored 32 points on Feb. 25, 2016.
- Illinois shot 22.8 percent from the field and 9.7 percent from outside the three-point line, both season-lows for Mercer opponents.
- Mercer defeated a Big Ten team for the first time since 1976. This is also Mercer's second win over a Power 5 school in three years as the Bears defeated Alabama in the 2014-15 season.
- Mercer also started the 2014-15 season with a 4-1 record, which is the best start for the Bears under Coach Gardner.
General thoughts on the game…
"I couldn't be more proud of our team. Obviously it was a low-scoring game; not a lot of shots were made by either team. I just thought we fought and Amanda Thompson was a woman inside battling taller post players and she just battled the whole night. I'm proud of Amanda and the way she battled and I thought Kayla went in there and got some big rebounds for us as well. It was a good team win when our shots weren't falling."
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On continuously winning the turnover battle…
"We don't work on it and we don't necessarily emphasize it. It's just something I think that sometimes teams have an identity that that's just what our identity is without us making it a big deal. It starts with Sydni; she sets the tone, but we don't talk about it at all."
Â
On getting two wins over Power 5 schools in three years…
"I think it's good for our players to have the opportunity to play some of the schools that are in the SEC, ACC, Big Ten, etc. because it's not something they get to do night in and night out. The opportunity to play against these guys and then talk about perhaps after they're graduated from college, 'remember that year we beat Illinois at Thanksgiving in 2016,' and that type of thing. Hopefully it will be good for them as players and also as we continue to prepare for a very, very difficult Southern Conference."
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RECORDS UPDATE
- Mercer: 4-1, 0-0 SoCon
- Illinois: 2-3, 0-0 Big Ten
Mercer will wrap up the road trip on Friday at 8 p.m. ET when it takes on the Houston Cougars in Houston, Texas.
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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.
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