Bears Down Bulldogs, Win Second Straight SoCon Championship

Saturday, February 25

Birmingham, Ala.

3:00 PM ET

Mercer University

23-5, 12-2SoCon

Samford

11-18, 4-10SoCon

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Mercer	13	10	19	34	76
Samford	12	17	19	20	68

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Bears Down Bulldogs, Win Second Straight SoCon Championship

2/25/2017 6:16:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Kahlia Lawrence's late-game heroics helped propel Mercer past Samford as the Bears won 76-68 in Birmingham and claimed their second consecutive Southern Conference Regular Season Championship.

Lawrence led all scorers with 31 points, 17 of which came in the fourth quarter, as Mercer rallied from a 12-point deficit to win its sixth-straight game. Alex Williams added 16 points and Sydni Means contributed 12 as the trio led the Bears in scoring.

This marks the second time in program history that Mercer has won back-to-back championships in the NCAA DI era. Mercer also won the 1991 NSWAC and 1992 TAAC regular season titles.

Mercer also secured the No. 2 seed in the SoCon Tournament, which begins Thursday, March 2 in Asheville, N.C.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Lawrence started the game for the Bears with a jumper in the first minute to put Mercer up 2-0, but the lead was short-lived as Samford answered quickly. The teams battled for the entire first quarter as neither team led by more than four points and there were four ties in the 10 minute period. The Bulldogs began to pull away in the second quarter, taking a five-point lead with 5:19 left until halftime. Samford maintained the lead through the end of the half, leading 29-23 at the intermission.

The Bulldogs opened the second half with a 10-5 run that gave them an 11-point lead, 39-28, with 6:32 remaining in the third quarter. After trading baskets for a few minutes, Samford went up, 46-34, for its largest lead of the game. With 3:27 left in the period, Lawrence hit a jumper that sparked a 15-2 Mercer run that went into the fourth quarter and culminated with a Lawrence trey, giving Mercer its' first lead since the first half.

Once the Bears took the lead, 50-48, they stayed there for the remainder of the game, with the exception of a 31 second time when the score was tied 50-50. Means hit her second three-pointer of the season to spark another Mercer run, this one lasting 6:12 as the Bears outscored the Bulldogs 21-7. During the run, Lawrence scored 12 points, helping Mercer to take a 71-59 lead with 43 seconds remaining. Samford hit three three-pointers in the final 33 seconds but the Bears held the Bulldogs off as they earned the 76-68 win.

NOTABLES

Mercer won its second-straight SoCon Regular Season Championship, marking just the second time in program history that Mercer has won back-to-back conference championships in the NCAA DI era.
Mercer finished the regular season with a 23-5 record, giving the Bears the program's best regular season record in NCAA DI play.
Mercer's 23 wins are the second-most in program history in the NCAA DI era.
Kahlia Lawrence reached 30+ points for the third time this season as she led Mercer with 31 points off 10-of-14 shooting from the field and a 10-of-14 performance at the charity stripe. Lawrence also had four rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Alex Williams notched 16 points, five rebounds, an assist and a steal.
Sydni Means tallied 12 points, six assists, four rebounds and a steal for the Bears.
Kayla Potts pulled down five rebounds to tie Williams for the team lead. Potts also had four points and a steal.
Mercer shot a season-high 54.9 percent from the field, including a blistering 75.0 percent in the second half.
The Bears turned the ball over just five times, a season-low in SoCon play.

COACH GARDNER'S TAKE
Thoughts on the game:
"We knew Samford makes you work on every possession, offensively and defensively. They were hitting shots; they were getting offensive rebounds; they were making it very difficult for us to score in the entire first half as well as the third quarter. All of the sudden, Kahlia (Lawrence) catches fire and is really, really difficult to guard. I thought Alex (Williams) played a tremendous basketball game. It took all of us; it was a tough ball game, but I'm really, really happy for our players."

RECORDS UPDATE

Mercer: 23-5, 12-2 SoCon
Samford: 11-18, 4-10 SoCon

UP NEXT

Mercer: vs. Wofford on Thursday, March 2 at 4 p.m. in Asheville, N.C.
Samford: vs. ETSU on Thursday, March 2 at 6:15 p.m. in Asheville, N.C.

How to Follow the Bears:
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