Outrunning Gardner-Webb

Sunday, November 21

Boiling Springs, NC

2:00 PM

Mercer University

3-2,0-0SoCon

Gardner-Webb

0-4,0-0Big South

Mercer

Gardner-Webb

11/21/2021 5:21:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

25-point third quarter propels Bears to win

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Mercer used a 25-point performance in the third quarter to put away Gardner-Webb in the second road contest of the season. Down four at the break, the Bears (3-2) utilized three 3s to separate themselves from the host Runnin' Bulldogs (0-4) at Paul Porter Arena on Sunday afternoon.

How it Happened
Mercer and Gardner-Webb played back-and-forth in the first half, and neither side could find much luck in the shooting department – neither shot north of 40%. Allie Thayne, a senior forward, led the Bears with six points in the opening half, which was only bested by GWU's Alasia Smith, who tallied 14 in the same time frame.
At the onset of the third quarter, Mercer faced a four-point hole, but the deficit was short-lived. The Bears notched six of the period's first eight points en route to a 25-10 advantage in the quarter. Jaron Dougherty led the Bears with 14 points, exactly half of them coming in the third quarter. Shannon Titus scored six of her 12 in the third. Erin Houpt sunk two 3s in quick succession to put an exclamation mark on the most important part of the contest. As a team in the third, the Bears shot 64.7% (11-for-17) from the field and were a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc.

Mercer kept their foot on the gas in the closing quarter to seal the win over the Runnin' Bulldogs for their third of the year.
Quotables - Head Coach Susie Gardner
On the 25-point third quarter
"In the last few games, we've had great first quarter starts and really poor third quarters. In this game, we actually reversed that and we came out with high-level intensity on defense that really got us some steals and some easy baskets that gave us some momentum. I feel like our defense was the key. They only scored 10 points and we had 25. We scored off of our defensive turnovers. I know it was the key to the third quarter, and key to the game actually.

On the bench's 20 points and the team's depth
It was a game that we had several players get in foul trouble in the first half and obviously, Erin Houpt stood out as someone who shot the ball exceptionally well like she does every day in practice. Sydneey Boykin came in and gave us some good minutes, and Lauren did, too. I think its things we've been working on in practice and we just have not necessarily had the luxury of trying it out in games and that gave me a lot of confidence.

Notables
• Three Bears – Amoria Neal-Tysor (11), Jaron Dougherty (14) and Shannon Titus (12) – scored in double-figures
• Mercer's bench contributed 20 points to the cause in this afternoon's win
• This is the second-straight contest in which Mercer has had a buzzer-beating 3 to end a quarter
• 26 of the 63 points were scored in the paint
• The Bears were perfect (3-for-3) from the three-point line in the third quarter
• Dating back to last season, Mercer has won their last eight games in North Carolina – including SoCon tournament contests

Up Next
The Bears will stay on the road and face Alabama on Wednesday, November 24. Tipoff from Tuscaloosa is slated for 7 p.m. Eastern.

Follow the Bears:
For complete coverage of Mercer Basketball, please follow the Bears on social media at @MercerMBB / @Mercer_WBB (Twitter), /MercerBasketball / /MercerWBB (Facebook) and @Mercer_MBB / @Mercerwbb (Instagram) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com.