Bears Drop SoCon Opener to UNCG, 72-68

Thursday, January 5

Macon, Ga.

7 PM

Mercer University

4-10,0-1SoCon

UNC Greensboro

8-7,1-0SoCon

UNC Greensboro

Mercer

1/5/2023 11:02:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Neal-Tysor finished with a game-high 23 points

MACON, Ga. – A cold shooting fourth quarter in which the Bears shot 26.7 percent factored in to the Bears' 67-62 loss in the SoCon opener against UNCG on Thursday night from Hawkins Arena.

The Bears shot 40 percent from the floor to UNCG's 42 percent. However, the Spartans who came into the game last in the conference in 3-point percentage at just 27.8 percent were 7-of-13 (54%) from 3-point range on the night while Mercer was 2-for-8 (25%) from deep.

With the game tied heading to the fourth quarter, Mercer shot just 26.7 percent from the field, but was 8-for-9 from the free throw line and had just one turnover in the fourth quarter to force the Spartans to knock down their free throws to hold off the Bears.

Amoria Neal-Tysor led all scorers with 23 points on 8-of-19 shooting with three assists. Erin Houpt added 13 points and Summah Evans had a career-high 14 rebounds in the game.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Mercer came out with great energy to begin the game and it reflected on the scoreboard, holding UNCG to just seven points in the first quarter. The Spartans were just 3-of-15 (20%) from the field in the first quarter.

The Bears carried over their excellent play in the opening minutes of the second quarter and took a 19-7 lead, which included a 17-3 run. Neal-Tysor scored 10 of her 23 points in the second quarter including the last four points of the quarter to give the Bears a 34-27 lead at halftime.

UNCG came out strong to start the second half and had its best offensive quarter of the game in the third quarter, shooting 9-of-16 (56.3%) from the field including a perfect 3-for-3 from 3-point range. The Spartans tied the game at 41 with just over five minutes to play in the third quarter, but an and-one from Nigeria Harkless gave Mercer the lead right back. Neither team could gain separation from the other in the final minutes of the third quarter and the two teams took a 51-all tie to the fourth quarter.

UNCG scored the first five points of the fourth quarter and led for the rest of the game. However, the Spartans never led by more than five points in the fourth quarter. The Bears made just one field goal over the final six minutes of the game, but they were able to get to the free throw line, going 8-for-9 from the line to stay in the game.

COACH GARDNER ON THE GAME
"We held them to seven points in the first quarter, which was our goal - our defense. They scored 24 points in the third. We let them get loose with 3-pointers. We let them dribble drive on us. We weren't getting stops and then of course in the fourth quarter we shot 26 percent and in the second [quarter] we shot 70 some percent. So, you know it's so inconsistent."

COACH GARDNER ON TEAM'S ENERGY TO START THE GAME
"That's all we talked about the last two days. I focused on defense. I felt like we did a poor job versus Anderson [University] defensively and so I said 'Ok, what do we have control over?' And we have control over our defense. I thought our energy was great. I was having to keep [the bench] off the floor, but it wasn't maintained for the whole 40 minutes, but championship teams are able to play that way for four quarters, not just one."

NOTABLES

Summah Evans had a career-high 14 rebounds.
15 of Mercer's 17 third quarter points were either layups or made free throws.
Mercer had nine turnovers in the game, the first time the Bears had less than 10 turnovers in a game this season.

UP NEXT:
Mercer will get a quick chance to rebound as they play Saturday at home against Western Carolina. Tip off is scheduled for 2 p.m. from Hawkins Arena.

FOLLOW THE BEARS
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