Bears Fall At Clemson, 90-66

Sunday, November 12

Clemson, S.C.

2 p.m.

Mercer University

1-2,0-0SoCon

Clemson

3-0,0-0ACC

Mercer

Clemson

11/12/2023 4:42:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

Mercer shot 8-for-19 from three-point range

CLEMSON, S.C. - Despite it's best shooting performance through three games this season, the Mercer Bears were unable to slow down Clemson's offense as the Tigers defeated Mercer 90-66, Sunday afternoon from Littlejohn Coliseum.

The Bears were 27-of-60 (45.0%) from the field and 8-for-19 from three-point range, both season bests. However, the Bears were unable to limit their turnovers, committing 20 to Clemson's 12 and the Tigers shot 32-for-62 (51.6%) from the field and made seven three's themselves to pull away from Mercer in the second half.

Enjulina Gonzalez led the Bears with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting (66.7%) to go with three rebounds. Mackenzie Johnson had a good game for the Bears in the post as she had 10 points and eight rebounds. Redshirt sophomore guard Hanna Knoll came off the bench and scored nine points, going 3-for-5 from behind the arc.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Aspen Johnson and Stacie Jones combined to score Mercer's first nine points of the game as the Bears and Tigers found themselves in a 9-9 tie just over five minutes into the game.

Clemson would go on a 12-5 run to take a 21-14 lead before a Mackenzie Johnson layup made it 21-16 Clemson.

Gonzlez got going offensively in the second quarter, scoring six consecutive points for the Bears to make it a 29-24 Clemson lead with four minutes to play in the second quarter. Each team made a pair of three-pointers in the final two minutes of the half as Clemson took a 38-30 lead into halftime.

Briana Peguero scored the first five points of the third quarter to make it a 42-35 game in the early going of the third quarter. However, Clemson would then start to heat up offensively as they would go on a 13-4 run to push their lead to 16 at 55-39. The Tigers shot 11-for-14 (78.6%) from the field in the fourth quarter and led 66-53 heading to the fourth quarter.

The Tigers scored the first 11 points of the fourth quarter to take a 77-53 lead. Knoll and Ashlee Locke accounted for 12 of Mercer's 13 fourth quarter points.

NOTES

Their was a big disparity in free throws as Clemson attempted 28 to Mercer's seven
The Bears were 8-for-19 (42.1%) from three-point range, Knoll led the Bears with three made 3-pointers
The Bears were outrebounded for the first time this season, 38-30
Freshman Ariana Dyson scored her first career point from the free throw line

COACH GARDNER QUOTES

Opening Statement:
"You go into halftime down eight. And really it was a three-point game until they hit two 3-pointers in the last two minutes of the half. So I felt good going into halftime and then we just didn't look like ourselves in the third quarter. They started getting transition layups. They were running the floor better than us in transition. We put them on the free throw line way too much this game. I'm not saying it's the officials, I'm saying we are fouling too much and we are giving them easy baskets like that."

On needing to get more touches to the post players:
"I don't think we are giving our post players enough touches. I think Mackenzie and Stacie need to touch the ball more than they are doing. They go 4-for-8 (Johnson) and 4-for-5 (Jones) and that's not enough touches. We said that at halftime. Stacie was 3-for-3 at halftime and we said get her the ball more and she ends up 4-for-5. There are some positives. We just got to keep plugging and it will come together eventually, we've just got some things to learn and keep improving."

FOLLOW THE BEARS
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