Big Second Quarter Propels Mercer to 68-44 Win at Western Carolina

Thursday, February 2

Cullowhee, NC

7 PM

Mercer University

9-12,5-3SoCon

Western Carolina University

9-14,2-6SoCon

Mercer

Western Caro.

Big Second Quarter Propels Mercer to 68-44 Win at Western Carolina

2/2/2023 10:25:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Neal-Tysor had 14 points in return

CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Mercer outscored Western Carolina 28-14 in the second quarter and led wire-to-wire in a 68-44 win over Western Carolina on Thursday night.

Mercer held Western Carolina to just four points in the opening quarter as the Catamounts shot just 33 percent from the field for the game.

Mercer was 11-for-14 from the field in the second quarter including 4-for-4 from 3-point range, all made my Amoria Neal-Tysor who returned from a three-game absence due to injury.

In her return, in 17 minutes of playing time, Neal-Tysor finished with 14 points on 5-of-8 (62.5%) shooting.

Enjulina Gonzalez led all scorers with 19 points on 9-of-14 shooting. She didn't miss a shot in the first half, going 6-for-6 from the floor and had 13 of her 19 points in the first half.

Erin Houpt was the other Bear to score in double-figures as she finished with 13 points on 3-of-7 shooting and tied her career-high with three steals.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Mercer started the game on a 7-0 run as Western Carolina didn't score until just over five minutes remaining in the first quarter. Houpt scored the last four points of the quarter and Mercer held the Catamounts to just four first quarter points on one made field goal.

Like the first quarter, Mercer started the second quarter on a 7-0 run after a layup from Gonzalez to push Mercer's lead to 18-4. Then, Mercer's offense began to heat up as the Bears stretched their lead to 21 at halftime. Neal-Tysor made all four of her 3-pointers in the second quarter.

After back-to-back jump shots from Summah Evans and Enjulina Gonzalez, Mercer had its largest lead of the game at 47-20, minutes into the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter Mercer shot 50 percent from the field (6-for-12) on the way to a 68-44 win.

COACH GARDNER ON DEFENSIVE DISCIPLINE
"I felt like we played really well defensively the first quarter. We went into halftime with a significant lead and was very disappointed in our lack of discipline. We fouled. We put them on the free throw line 25 times, and we got out-rebounded significantly in the second half. We won by a good margin, but there's still some things we need to kind of clean up a bit."

NOTABLES

In Mercer's five conference wins, the Bears have held three of their opponents to under 45 points.
Mercer shot 5-for-9 (55.6%) from 3-point range. The fourth consecutive game the Bears have shot at least 40% from deep.
Mercer committed 24 fouls. The second-most they have committed in a game this season.
The Bears scored 28 points in the second quarter. The second-most they have scored in a quarter this season (30 in 4^th quarter at Troy).

UP NEXT:
Mercer will play at UNCG on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 4 p.m.

FOLLOW THE BEARS
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