Mercer University
24-9
Georgia Tech
20-12
Women's Basketball Falls to Georgia Tech in WNIT
3/17/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
ATLANTA, Ga. – Kahlia Lawrence and Linnea Rosendal scored 22 and 16 points, respectively, to lead the Mercer University women's basketball team on Thursday evening, but the Bears were overpowered by Georgia Tech, 73-56, in the first round of the WNIT.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Georgia Tech opened the game with a 9-3 run, but Mercer quickly answered with a 6-1 run to cut the Yellow Jackets' lead to one, 10-9. After a Georgia Tech layup, Sydni Means hit back-to-back layups to give Mercer its' first lead of the game, 12-11, with 2:52 left in the first quarter. Georgia Tech outscored Mercer 4-2 in the final minutes to hold onto a 16-15 advantage at the end of the first period. Other than a Georgia Tech free throw, neither team scored in the first four minutes of the second quarter, sparked by a three-pointer with 5:56 left in the half, Georgia Tech embarked on a 10-4 run that put the Yellow Jackets up 27-19 with 1:24 on the clock. Each team hit one more jumper and Georgia Tech entered the locker room with a 29-21 advantage.
The teams traded baskets for the first three minutes of the second half before Georgia Tech scored five unanswered points to take a 40-28 lead with 5:30 left in the third quarter. After another two minutes of back-and-forth, Mercer went on a 14-5 run to close out the third period and cut the Yellow Jackets' lead to 48-44 with 10 minutes left in the game. Georgia Tech used a 6-0 spurt at the beginning of the fourth quarter to stretch its lead back to 10, 54-44, with 8:05 to play. The teams battled for the next five minutes, but with 2:39 remaining, the Yellow Jackets started a 12-3 run that lasted the duration of the game and moved the final score to 76-53.
NOTABLES
- Kahlia Lawrence led Mercer with 22 points, registering her 14th 20+ point game of the season. She also had six rebounds and two steals. Lawrence currently sits at No. 20 on Mercer's all-time scoring leaderboard with 1,063 points.
- Linnea Rosendal scored 16 points and pulled down a career-high six rebounds for the Bears. Rosendal hit double-digits for the 16th time this season and her four three-pointers in the game gave her a season total of 65, which puts her in fourth place on Mercer's single-season top-10 list.
- Sydni Means tallied six points, five rebounds, eight assists and two steals. Means now sits in fourth place in steals (80) and seventh place in assists (189) on Mercer's single-season leaderboards.
- Alex Williams led Mercer with seven rebounds and added four points.
- Rachel Selph notched four points and two rebounds, while Amanda Thompson added four points, two rebounds, an assist and a steal.
- Mercer connected on 35.4 percent of its shots from the field, which included 40.6 percent in the second half.
- Mercer won the turnover battle, 6-11, but Georgia Tech outrebounded Mercer, 50-32.
- Mercer's 24 wins this season is the most for the Bears in the NCAA DI era and tied for second most in program history.
QUOTABLES
"It was a great opportunity. We played well and we played with them in the first quarter, not so well in the second quarter, cut it to four in the fourth quarter and had a chance. (Roddreka) Rogers outwomaned us; she had 15 points and 15 rebounds and she was tougher than us inside. I'm glad we fought back and cut it to four, but it's disappointing because as good of a season as it was, we let the last two games of the year slip through our fingers." – Head Coach Susie Gardner
RECORDS UPDATE
Mercer finishes the season at 24-9 and Georgia Tech moves to 20-12.
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.
