Bears Drop Tight Contest At Western Kentucky, 70-64

Monday, November 6

Bowling Green, Ky.

6 p.m.

Mercer University

0-1,0-0SoCon

Western Kentucky

1-0,0-0CUSA

Mercer

Western Ky.

Bears Drop Tight Contest At Western Kentucky, 70-64

11/6/2023 9:12:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Mercer outrebounded Western Kentucky 48-35

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - In a back-and-forth, close, competitive game in the season opener between Mercer and Western Kentucky, the Lady Toppers came out with a 70-64 win over the Bears Monday evening in E.A. Diddle Arena.

Three Mercer players led the team with 15 points each on the night in Mackenzie Johnson, Stacie Jones, and Briana Peguero. Sophomore Aspen Johnson was the other Mercer player in double figures in scoring with 11.

The Bears did an excellent job on the glass as they outrebounded Western Kentucky 48-35 in the game. That included a 19-8 advantage in offensive rebounds, leading to a 20-8 edge in second chance points for the Bears.

It wasn't the most efficient shooting night for either team as the Bears were 23-of-67 (34%) from the field and the Lady Toppers were 22-of-56 (39%). Each team shot below 25 percent from three-point range.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Peguero opened the scoring with a layup for her first points as a Bear with 8:37 to play in the first quarter. A layup from Cianté Downs made it 10-8 Western Kentucky. Trailing 15-12, the Bears would score the last four points of the first quarter to take a 16-15 lead.

Trailing 20-16 early in the second, Mercer would go on its longest scoring run of the game, scoring the next seven points, five coming from Peguero and two points from Johnson to take a 23-20 lead. Peguero and Johnson combined to score 11 of Mercer's 13 points in the second quarter and the Bears trailed 30-29 at halftime.

An 8-0 run by Western Kentucky in the third quarter gave the Lady Toppers a 38-33 lead. The Bears trailed by as many as six at 44-38, but would fight their way back to even the score after a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Peguero tied the game at 47 after three quarters of action.

A layup from Ashlee Locke gave Mercer a 54-53 lead with 6:32 to play in the fourth quarter, but Western Kentucky would go on a 9-2 run to take a 59-54 lead with just over four minutes to play.

A layup from Johnson with 19 seconds to play brought the Bears within two at 66-64, but Western Kentucky's Acacia Hayes knocked down both of her free throws on the ensuing possession to make it a four point game as the Lady Toppers would hold on for the 70-64 win.

NOTES

The largest lead in the game for either team was six points. It was a one-point game after the first and second quarters and a tie game after the third quarter.
Stacie Jones and Aspen Johnson each had double-doubles as Jones had 15 points and 16 rebounds and Johnson 11 points and 10 rebounds. Mackenzie Johnson was one rebound shy of a double-double.
Stacie Jones led Mercer with a career-high 16 rebounds, including eight offensive.
Each team had trouble protecting the ball, as Mercer had 26 turnovers and Western Kentucky 21.
Peguero led Mercer with four steals to go with her 15 points.

COACH GARDNER QUOTES

Positives from the game:
"I thought a bright spot was we outrebounded them 48-35. Stacie Jones played incredible, 16 rebounds, eight offensive. Our post play I thought was pretty good. We played them tight. We played them tough. We got close and then we would have an opportunistic turnover. We just can't turn the ball over that much."

On the turnovers:
"We knew they were going to press. A lot of it was decisions. We'd break the press and then we'd make a bad decision once we crossed half court, so it wasn't like they were stealing it in the press, it was once we got across half court and we just did not play smart at all, so that was the key."

On the team's post play:
"We missed a lot of shots. When you miss a lot of shots you are going to get more opportunities to get rebounds. Thankfully we have Stacie and Mackenzie that are proven rebounders from where they were previously. I feel like right know our post game is a little bit ahead of our guards, but in think we'll get there. I was really pleased with their play. I thought they fought all night."

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