Thursday, November 15
Macon, Ga.
7 P.M.
Mercer University
2-1
92
vs
82
Florida
0-3
1
2
3
4
F
Florida
17
13
18
34
82
Mercer
26
13
30
23
92
Team Stats
UF
MER
FG%
.474
.538
3FG%
.462
.500
FT%
.941
.778
RB
28
32
TO
15
9
STL
8
10
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
30
FGM
9
3FGM
6
FTM
6
Pts
17
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
16
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's BasketballPhoto by: Judy Stapleton
Calloway Notches First Career Double-Double in Victory
11/15/2018 10:39:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Bears win seventh consecutive home opener
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer Women's Basketball team ignited the home crowd with a thrilling 92-82 victory over SEC foe, Florida, to kick off the home season. The Bears placed four players in double figures, led by 30 points from KeKe Calloway. With the win, Mercer improves to 2-1 on the campaign, while Florida falls to 0-3. Â
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STAT OF THE MATCH
Mercer won the battle of the boards tonight against the Gators, despite lacking the equivalent height of the visiting squad. The Bears pulled down 32 boards to Florida's 28, including 14 on the offensive end.
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PLAYER OF THE GAME
KeKe Calloway notched her first double-double in her illustrious career with 30 points and 10 assists. The 10 assists marked a career-best for the Georgia senior. Calloway finished 9-of-21 from the floor, including 6-of-10 from downtown.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
Mercer got off to a scorching start, hitting three of its first four shots and then connecting for two free throws for the early 9-4 advantage. Following a Gators' three to trim the Mercer lead to two, the Bears went on an 8-0 run to reach their first double-digit lead of the contest. The 8-0 spurt included threes by Calloway and Linnea Rosendal with a fast-break layup from Amanda Thompson sandwiched in the middle. The Bears kept their foot on the gas, taking the 26-17 first-quarter lead, paced by 11 points from Calloway.
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The two offenses stalled in the second quarter compared to the first, scoring 13 points apiece. Mercer built its lead to 12 on three occasions just to see Florida score on the next possession to cut into the Bears' lead. Rosendal led the way for Mercer in the second quarter with five points.
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The third quarter was all Mercer as the Bears pulled away thanks to a 30-18 period. The Bears began the second half on a 9-2 run with Shannon Titus leading the charge with six points. The Gators could not trim the Mercer lead to single digits as the home squad kept firing on all cylinders. Just when things seemed to slow down, the Bears finished the quarter on a 13-6 run, taking a game-high lead of 21. Calloway and Titus combined for 17 of Mercer's 30 points in the third quarter, including Calloway's three from beyond NBA range at the buzzer.
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With Mercer cruising into the fourth quarter, the Gators proved they were not going to go away quietly. Florida rode the momentum of Delicia Washington as she scored 11 of her game-high 33 points in the first seven minutes of the final quarter. The Gators outscored Mercer 24-7 in the first seven minutes, trimming the Orange & Black lead to just four. Mercer responded with seven unanswered points to stretch its lead back to 11 with 1:30 remaining. The Gators cut the Mercer lead to five, but could not get any closer as the Bears iced the game from the charity stripe (7-of-8) in the final 30 seconds.
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NOTABLES
COACH'S CORNER
Final thoughts on the game:
"There was great intensity in the building and I thought our bench was outstanding. We had four players in double-figure scoring and KeKe shot the ball well and added 10 assists for us. We had a 20-plus point lead and lost it, but we will learn a lot from this game."
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On the hustle of the team:
"We outrebounded them tonight which is not usually our forte. It was important for us to win the rebounding battle tonight. We were diving on the floor a lot and really chasing after the 50-50 balls. It was really fun to watch this new team and all the players on the floor contributing in their own way."
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On the emotion of the win:
"We have beaten Power Five teams before. We beat North Carolina in Chapel Hill and we have beaten Alabama on the road. We have brought some big names to our campus, but we have never won in front of our home crowd. So that was special in its own and it was good for our team because a game like this is going to give our players some confidence."
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RECORDS UPDATE
NEXT GAME
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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STAT OF THE MATCH
Mercer won the battle of the boards tonight against the Gators, despite lacking the equivalent height of the visiting squad. The Bears pulled down 32 boards to Florida's 28, including 14 on the offensive end.
Â
PLAYER OF THE GAME
KeKe Calloway notched her first double-double in her illustrious career with 30 points and 10 assists. The 10 assists marked a career-best for the Georgia senior. Calloway finished 9-of-21 from the floor, including 6-of-10 from downtown.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
Mercer got off to a scorching start, hitting three of its first four shots and then connecting for two free throws for the early 9-4 advantage. Following a Gators' three to trim the Mercer lead to two, the Bears went on an 8-0 run to reach their first double-digit lead of the contest. The 8-0 spurt included threes by Calloway and Linnea Rosendal with a fast-break layup from Amanda Thompson sandwiched in the middle. The Bears kept their foot on the gas, taking the 26-17 first-quarter lead, paced by 11 points from Calloway.
Â
The two offenses stalled in the second quarter compared to the first, scoring 13 points apiece. Mercer built its lead to 12 on three occasions just to see Florida score on the next possession to cut into the Bears' lead. Rosendal led the way for Mercer in the second quarter with five points.
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The third quarter was all Mercer as the Bears pulled away thanks to a 30-18 period. The Bears began the second half on a 9-2 run with Shannon Titus leading the charge with six points. The Gators could not trim the Mercer lead to single digits as the home squad kept firing on all cylinders. Just when things seemed to slow down, the Bears finished the quarter on a 13-6 run, taking a game-high lead of 21. Calloway and Titus combined for 17 of Mercer's 30 points in the third quarter, including Calloway's three from beyond NBA range at the buzzer.
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With Mercer cruising into the fourth quarter, the Gators proved they were not going to go away quietly. Florida rode the momentum of Delicia Washington as she scored 11 of her game-high 33 points in the first seven minutes of the final quarter. The Gators outscored Mercer 24-7 in the first seven minutes, trimming the Orange & Black lead to just four. Mercer responded with seven unanswered points to stretch its lead back to 11 with 1:30 remaining. The Gators cut the Mercer lead to five, but could not get any closer as the Bears iced the game from the charity stripe (7-of-8) in the final 30 seconds.
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NOTABLES
- Mercer won its seventh consecutive home opener, improving to 7-2 in home openers under Coach Gardner.
- With the win, Mercer improved to 2-1 on the season and evened the all-time series against Florida at 4-4.
- The Bears improve to 3-1 at home against the Gators, winning the first matchup played since 1991.
- KeKe Calloway buried six threes tonight, passing Kayla Christopher for seventh all-time in SoCon history.
- Calloway is now at an even 1,300 career points, passing Christen Edwards for 13th all-time in Mercer history.
- Calloway picked up her first career double-double, finishing with a career high 10 assists and chipping in 30-or-more points for the second consecutive game.
- Linnea Rosendal added a season-high 16 points to finish third on the team in scoring, knocking in a pair from beyond the arc.
- Shannon Titus recorded her second consecutive career-high performance, this time with 17 points on an efficient 7-of-11 from the field.
- Mercer won the points in the paint battle (24-18), points off turnovers (22-11) and fast-break points (12-4).
- Calloway's 30-point, 10-assist performance was the first 10-plus-point and 10-plus-assist performance since Sydni Means against UCF on Nov. 10, 2017.
- The Bears shot over .500 from the field, finishing 35-65 (.538).
COACH'S CORNER
Final thoughts on the game:
"There was great intensity in the building and I thought our bench was outstanding. We had four players in double-figure scoring and KeKe shot the ball well and added 10 assists for us. We had a 20-plus point lead and lost it, but we will learn a lot from this game."
Â
On the hustle of the team:
"We outrebounded them tonight which is not usually our forte. It was important for us to win the rebounding battle tonight. We were diving on the floor a lot and really chasing after the 50-50 balls. It was really fun to watch this new team and all the players on the floor contributing in their own way."
Â
On the emotion of the win:
"We have beaten Power Five teams before. We beat North Carolina in Chapel Hill and we have beaten Alabama on the road. We have brought some big names to our campus, but we have never won in front of our home crowd. So that was special in its own and it was good for our team because a game like this is going to give our players some confidence."
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RECORDS UPDATE
- Mercer: 2-1
- Florida: 0-3
NEXT GAME
- Mercer vs. UCF on Sunday, Nov. 18 at 2 p.m. at Hawkins Arena in Macon, Ga.
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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