Neal-Tysor and Houpt Guide Mercer's Offense in 66-52 Win Over ETSU

Thursday, January 12

Johnson City, TN

7 PM

Mercer University

6-10,2-1SoCon

East Tennessee State University

13-5,0-2SoCon

Mercer

ETSU

Neal-Tysor and Houpt Guide Mercer's Offense in 66-52 Win Over ETSU

1/12/2023 10:37:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Neal-Tysor and Houpt Combined to score 40 of Mercer's 66 points

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Amoria Neal-Tysor and Erin Houpt powered Mercer's offense in a 66-52 win over ETSU on Thursday night.

Mercer outrebounded ETSU 44-26 on the night. Jaron Dougherty had a season-high 12 rebounds and Summah Evans had eight rebounds, and each had five points.

Mercer went 21-for-24 (88%) from the free throw line. Despite committing a season-high 25 turnovers, with 17 of them coming in the first half, the Bears still held a 4-point lead at halftime and turned it into a 14-point road win.

Amoria Neal-Tysor led the Bears with 22 points, five rebounds, and three assists. Erin Houpt had 18 points, five rebounds and two assists. Houpt was 13-for-14 from the free throw line.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Mercer scored the first seven points of the game after a 3-pointer from Summah Evans. A 3-pointer from Neal-Tysor extended Mercer's lead to 14-2 and the Bears would take an 11-point lead into the second quarter.

Foul trouble and turnovers allowed ETSU back in the game as Neal-Tysor and Evans both sat out the entire second quarter with two fouls. ETSU closed out the first half on a 15-4 run and cut Mercer's lead to 28-24 going into halftime.

The Buccaneers started the second half on a 5-0 run and took their first and only lead of the game at 29-28. The Bears would score their next six points from the free throw line to take the lead at 34-32. In the third quarter, with the Bears leading 36-35, Mercer went on a 12-0 run after a fast break layup from Enjulina Gonzalez to extend its lead to 13 at 48-35.

Early in the fourth quarter ETSU cut Mercer's lead to seven, but Houpt knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key to put the Bears back up double figures for the rest of the game.

COACH GARDNER ON FOUL TROUBLE AND TURNOVERS
"We had 17 turnovers in the first half, which is too many for a whole game. We had Summah and Amoria out of the game for I think the entire second quarter. So, I was really pleased with how we started the game, but those two guys have got to stay out of foul trouble."

COACH GARDNER ON PHYSICAL GAME AND REBOUNDING ADVANTAGE
"It was a really physical game. I was pleased with how we handled the third quarter. They got into foul trouble early in the third quarter and we hit our free throws. It was a battle. I was really pleased with the 44-26 rebounding advantage for us."

NOTABLES

Mercer's 44-26 rebounding advantage was the largest rebounding advantage this season for the Bears.
Erin Houpt made a career-high 13 free throws in the game.
Mercer held its second consecutive opponent to under 15 percent shooting from 3-point range as ETSU was just 3-for-22 (13.6%) from deep.
Mercer's 25 turnovers in a win, marked the second time this season the Bears had 25 turnovers in a win. The other a 76-75 season-opening win over MTSU.

UP NEXT:
Mercer will stay in Tennessee to play the Chattanooga Mocs on Saturday, January 14. Tip off is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET from Chattanooga.

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.