Bears Ground Owls

Monday, November 29

Macon, Ga.

7:00 PM

Mercer University

5-3,0-0SoCon

Kennesaw State

2-5,0-0ASUN

Kennesaw St.

Mercer

Photo by: Kayla Davis

11/29/2021 10:06:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Mercer uses big second quarter and career nights to put away Kennesaw State

MACON, Ga. – A strong second quarter, aided by strong shooting, led Mercer to a Monday night victory over the in-state Kennesaw State Owls, 66-49.

How it Happened
Mercer (5-3) started out the first quarter slowly, surrendering the game's first six points to the visiting Owls (2-5), and didn't score until the 7:19 minute mark of the opening frame. The period would continue in a see-saw fashion that saw the Bears take the lead they wouldn't relinquish with a buzzer-beating layup from Nigeria Harkless, a freshman from Jacksonville, Fla.

The second quarter was cemented by a 21-11 run that Mercer used to secure the win. Erin Houpt, a freshman from Danville, Ill., scored 8 of her career-high 11 in the second via two 3s and a jumper. Mercer shot 9-of-13 (69.2%) from the field in the second, which starkly contrasted the first's 7-of-17 (41.2%).

Q2 8:30 » Another game, another @erin_houpt10 3. MER 21, KSU 16#WhateverItTakes | #RoarTogether pic.twitter.com/dEDcdOS2Tf — Mercer Women's Basketball (@Mercer_WBB) November 30, 2021

Endia Banks, a graduate guard, contributed nine points and assisted eight times – a career high – in the win tonight. She bested a previous high of four, set earlier this month against App State. Harkless' six was also a career high, and Kinley Fisher's third quarter three was the first of her career.

Q4 6:52 » Let's all appreciate Kinley's 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙨. MER 58, KSU 42#WhateverItTakes | #RoarTogether pic.twitter.com/AyA5VmOJY7 — Mercer Women's Basketball (@Mercer_WBB) November 30, 2021

Mercer kept the pace up in the third with a 14-10 advantage, which was led by Allie Thayne's four third quarter points. Thayne ended the contest with a career-high 10. The Bears used tight defense toward the end, keeping the guests off the scoreboard for the last three-and-a-half minutes, while adding a 6-0 run in the last two-plus.

Quotables – Head Coach Susie Gardner
Thoughts on career highs from Allie Thayne, Nigeria Harkless and Erin Houpt
"They work hard every day in practice. Allie benefitted from scoring off the press break and a lot of Endia's assists were to the post players. Houpt comes in and she's hot and we're trying to run plays for her and I thought Nigeria really has been looking good in practice and what she shows in practice really showed on the court tonight."

On the response from the slow first quarter
"Well, we were originally getting off to fast first quarters and now lately we've been getting off to some slow first quarters. I was proud of them in the second quarter. The fourth quarter concerned me a little bit, in that we had them up 20 and we should have just put them all of the way away instead of what we did. You're not going to have four perfect quarters. I was really pleased with our second quarter and the momentum we had going into halftime."

Notables
• Erin Houpt has now tallied a 3-pointer in four of the eight games played this season, and it was her second time notching three in one
• Nearly half of the Bears' points - 32 of the 66 - were scored in the paint
• Mercer has now taken five of the last six versus Kennesaw State

Up Next
Mercer will venture to the Volunteer State for a pair. The Bears will visit Middle Tennessee on Friday, December 3. Tipoff from Murfreesboro is slated for 7 p.m. Eastern.

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