Georgia Claims In-State Matchup Over Mercer, 77-57

Thursday, November 16

Macon, Ga.

7 p.m.

Mercer University

1-3,0-0SoCon

Georgia

3-1,0-0SEC

Georgia

Mercer

Georgia Claims In-State Matchup Over Mercer, 77-57

11/16/2023 9:32:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Deja Williams led Mercer with 14 points

MACON, Ga. - It was an in-state matchup on Thursday night from Hawkins Arena, in which the Georgia Bulldogs defeated the Mercer Bears 77-57.

The Bears couldn't get their shots to fall consistently as they shot 32 percent (22-for-69) from the field and 42 percent (5-for-12) from the free throw line. The Bears made eight three-pointers for the second consecutive game and were 8-for-24 (33%) from deep.

Turnovers also hurt the Bears as they had 20 in the game and Georgia had 14. Points off turnovers were 32-11 in favor of Georgia.

Deja Williams led Mercer with 14 points, with most of her scoring coming from three-point range where she was 4-for-10. Williams also had a game-high six assists. Ashlee Locke had her first double-figure game in scoring this season with 10 points and six rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Enjuliina Gonzalez and Briana Peguero each made a three-pointer in the opening minutes of the first quarter to make it a 7-6 lead for Georgia. An 8-0 Georgia run made it 15-6, before Aspen Johnson scored the last four points of the quarter to make it 17-11 Georgia after one quarter of action.

Williams and Locke combined to score 15 of Mercer's 18 second quarter points. Trailing 26-21 with just over two minutes to play in the second quarter, the Bears would go on an 8-2 run capped off by back-to-back three-pointers from Williams to make the halftime score 38-29 Georgia.

Mercer's offense struggled to make shots in the first six minutes of the third quarter. The Bears' first three made field goals were all three-pointers, two from Peguero and one from Williams. Georgia was able to stretch its lead to 56-43 after three quarters.

The fourth quarter was another slow start offensively for the Bears. Locke's field goal with just over six minutes to play were the first points of the quarter for Mercer. The Bears created some turnovers in the fourth quarter, getting five steals that led to fastbreak points.

NOTES

Mercer had a season-high 15 assists on the night
Deja Williams' six assists were the most assists by a Mercer player in a game this season
Williams was 3-for-3 from three-point range in the second quarter
Rebounds were 42-40 Georgia, but Mercer had the edge on the offensive glass with 20 offensive rebounds to Georgia's 13
Stacie Jones had 10 rebounds. She has reached 10+ rebounds in three of four games this season

COACH GARDNER QUOTES

Opening Statement:
"I think that this team is still trying to find out who they are. Yeah we were sped up. We are making turnovers that aren't even forced turnovers and we got outrebounded. The way Georgia scored in the first five minutes of the game was they kept going to the offensive glass. I felt like we were ready. They had great energy in the locker room before the game. We had two great days of prep, but we are not taking our prep onto the court in game time."

On defense needing to improve:
"This team at the beginning of the year they said they wanted their identity to be great on defense in points allowed. Well 77 points is not great on defense. We've got to get some consistency across the board."

FOLLOW THE BEARS
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