Wake Forest Pulls Away in Second Half to Defeat Mercer, 70-45

Thursday, November 17

Winston-Salem, NC

11 AM

Mercer University

1-1,0-0SoCon

Wake Forest University

3-1,0-1ACC

Mercer

Wake Forest

Wake Forest Pulls Away in Second Half to Defeat Mercer, 70-45

11/17/2022 2:39:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Mercer offense struggled shooting just 26.2 percent from the field

MACON, Ga. - The Mercer women's basketball played a strong first half, but was unable to build on it in the second half as Wake Forest pulled away for a 70-45 win on Thursday afternoon from Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

The Bears held a one point lead after the first quarter, and were down 25-24 at halftime. Mercer held last season's ACC leading scorer in Wake Forest's Jewel Spear scoreless in the first half.

Jaron Dougherty and Amoria Neal-Tysor led the Bears with 13 points each. The strong defensive play from both teams in the first half led to each team shooting less than 35 percent from the floor in the first half.

Wake Forest outscored Mercer 27-9 in the fourth quarter, on 11-of-19 shooting including 4-of-8 from three-point range. The Demon Deacons finished the game on a 12-0 run.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The first quarter was a defensive battle as Mercer shot 27.8 percent from the floor and Wake Forest shot 30.8 percent from the field. Wake Forest scored the first two points of the game, but Mercer responded with a 12-3 run capped by a step-back jumper from Enjulina Gonzalez. Mercer's five made field goals in the quarter were each made by a different player.

In the second quarter, Mercer took its largest lead of the game at 22-15 after back-to-back threes from Jaron Dougherty and Erin Houpt. Wake Forest scored the last five points in the quarter to take a 25-24 lead into halftime.

Coming out of halftime, neither team could get its offense going as the teams combined for just one made field goal in the first four minutes of the third quarter. Wake Forest went on a 12-0 run that included four consecutive three-pointers to take a 41-32 lead. Ashlee Locke scored on a nice move in the paint to cut the deficit to 41-36 before a late field goal by Wake Forest gave the Demon Deacons a 43-36 lead after the third quarter.

A jump shot from Jaron Dougherty with just over eight minutes remaining in the game made it a 46-40 lead for Wake Forest. However, Wake Forest made a game-high 11 field goals in the fourth quarter to pull away for the win.

COACH GARDNER ON THE GAME
"I was pleased with the way we started the game. Our defense was locked in and we were hitting open shots. Our energy was great and we held the reigning leading scorer in the ACC to no points in the first half. Overall for the game however, we only shot 26% from the field and we have to do a better job of executing our offense at a quicker pace. We will regroup and prepare for a quick turnaround on Sunday." - Head Coach Susie Gardner

NOTABLES

Mercer held the returning ACC scoring leader in Wake Forest's Jewel Spear scoreless in the first half. Spear finished with 10 points in the game.
Mercer had 12 offensive rebounds to Wake Forest's seven.

UP NEXT
Mercer returns home to play Georgia Southwestern State on Sunday, Nov. 20. Tip off is scheduled for 2 p.m.

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