Mercer University
East Tennessee St.
Women's Basketball Powers Past Bucs, 61-45
2/18/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Kahlia Lawrence scored 21 points to lead a trio of double-digit scorers, as Mercer steamed past ETSU in the fourth quarter to defeat the Bucs, 61-45, on Thursday evening. Linnea Rosendal and Sydni Means scored 17 and 10 points, respectively, to round out the double-figure scoring for the Bears.
Shamauria Bridges led ETSU with 15 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Mercer jumped to an 8-1 lead midway through the first quarter, but ETSU used an 8-2 run of its own to cut the Bears' lead to 10-9 with 2:37 left in the period. Sydni Means connected on a pair of layups in the final two minutes of the quarter to stretch Mercer's lead to 14-9. The Bears opened the second quarter with a 5-1 spurt that again put them up seven, 19-12, with 6:25 left in the half. The teams traded baskets for the remainder of the half and Mercer held on to the lead, 29-25, as it entered the locker room.
The Bears used a 6-2 spurt at the beginning of the second half to gain their largest advantage yet and take a nine-point, 35-26 lead. After a pair of baskets for each team, ETSU went on a 7-0 run that closed the gap to 39-36 with 2:46 left in the period. Mercer continued to hold ETSU off, answering each of their baskets and going up 45-41 at the end of the third quarter. Kahlia Lawrence scored seven points for the Bears in the first 1:55 of the final quarter, putting Mercer up 52-41. Each team slowed down offensively over the next five minutes, as ETSU narrowly outscored Mercer, 4-3, as the Bears held on to their lead, 55-45. Mercer held ETSU to just those four points in the fourth quarter and added another six to move the final score to 61-45.
STAT OF THE GAME
Mercer shot 47.3 percent from the field, which included a 59.1 field goal percentage in the second half.
NOTABLES
- Kahlia Lawrence scored 21 points, notching her 11th 20+ point game of the season. Lawrence also had two rebounds, two steals and an assist.
- Linnea Rosendal tallied 17 points for her 15th double-figure game of the season. Rosendal hit three treys, putting her on Mercer's single-season three-point leaderboard and moving her up to eighth place. Rosendal also had three rebounds, two assists and a block.
- Sydni Means netted 10 points for her 11th double-digit scoring game of the season. Means also had eight assists, seven rebounds and a steal.
- Amanda Thompson pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds for her third double-figure rebounding performance of the season. Thompson also notched two blocks and an assist.
- Alex Williams contributed six points, five rebounds and two blocks for the Bears.
- Brittnee Broadway recorded four points, a rebound and an assist, while Rachel Selph registered two points, two rebounds, two blocks and a steal.
- Mercer outrebounded ETSU, 42-32, but lost the turnover battle, 9-13.
- The Bears shot 47.3 percent from the field while holding the Bucs to 32.1 percent.
- Mercer improved to 20-6 on the season, recording the second-straight 20-win season for the Bears and the third under Head Coach Susie Gardner.
QUOTABLES
"I'm really proud of the way our team played tonight. Obviously we lost a heartbreaker to ETSU the first time. We needed everybody tonight – Amanda had 11 rebounds, Sydni was close to a triple-double, Linnea hit big shots and Kahlia hit big shots. I thought our defense was exceptional; we went after every loose ball. We got better today." – Head Coach Susie Gardner
RECORDS UPDATE
Mercer moves to 20-6 overall and 10-1 in conference play and ETSU is now 16-11 on the season and 8-4 in league action.
UP NEXT
Mercer will take on Chattanooga on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. in the Bears' final road game of the regular season.
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.
