Mercer Falls To Chattanooga in Tight Contest, 64-61

Thursday, February 9

Macon, Ga.

7 PM

Mercer University

10-13,6-4SoCon

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

14-10,6-3SoCon

Chattanooga

Mercer

Mercer Falls To Chattanooga in Tight Contest, 64-61

2/9/2023 11:06:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Jaron Dougherty led the Bears with 20 points

MACON, Ga. – A potential game-tying shot from Amoria Neal-Tysor in the closing seconds wouldn't fall as Chattanooga held on for a 64-61 win Thursday night in Hawkins Arena.

In a tightly contested game throughout, in which neither team led by more than seven points, the Bears couldn't come up with a couple of plays in the fourth quarter to secure the win.

Each team shot better than 50 percent from the floor, but in the first half Mercer came out defensively with a lot of energy and forced four shot clock violations from the Mocs in the opening 20 minutes.

Jaron Dougherty led all scorers with 20 points on 9-for-19 shooting to go with eight rebounds and two steals.

Enjulina Gonzalez continued to be efficient shooting the ball as she went 8-for-11 from the field for 16 points. Amoria Neal-Tysor was the other Bear to score in double-figures with 14 points on 5-for-10 shooting.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Enjulina Gonzalez and Jaron Dougherty combined to score all 14 of Mercer's first quarter points. Gonzalez had the first six and Dougherty the last eight. Mercer led 14-12 after the first quarter.

Gonzalez opened the second quarter for the Bears with back-to-back baskets to stretch Mercer's lead to its largest in the first half at 18-12.

The Bears had a couple of three-point plays in the second quarter from Erin Houpt and Neal-Tysor who got fouled on strong drives to the rim. Mercer had just two first half turnovers and led 28-26 at the break.

Chattanooga got out to a quick start to begin the second half, going on a 6-0 run to take its largest lead of the game at 32-28.

A 3-pointer in transition from Summah Evans assisted by Gonzalez gave Mercer the lead back at 35-34 with over six minutes to play in the second quarter.

Trailing 38-37, Mercer would go on its longest scoring run of the game at 8-0 to take a 45-38 lead before the Mocs scored the final five points of the third quarter to make it a one possession game going to the fourth quarter.

With the Bears leading 54-52 with just under five minutes to play, Chattanooga would go on a 7-0 run to take a five-point lead with just over two minutes to play.

A Houpt 3-pointer and Neal-Tysor layup quickly got the Bears even at 59 a piece with 1:10 to play. Trailing 63-61, with 13 seconds remaining, Chattanooga's Abbey Cornelius missed two free throws to give the Bears a chance to tie or take the lead.

Out of the timeout, Neal-Tysor got great look but missed a pull up 10-foot jump shot, and Chattanooga held on for the win.

COACH GARDNER ON DEFENSE IN FIRST VS SECOND HALF
"We had [forced]; I think four 30-second shot clock violations in the first half. You would think with that kind of success, it would be able to carry over into the second half. We did not get stops when we needed to get stops. They hit big shots, but in these types of games, you've got to get stops."

NOTABLES

Mercer went 3-for-5 from 3-point range. Tied for its fewest 3-point attempts in a conference game this season.
Mercer had just two turnovers in the first half and eight for the game, its fewest in a conference game this season.
Erin Houpt made her only 3-point attempt of the night, extending her streak to six consecutive games with at least one made 3-pointer, including 10 of her last 11 games.
Dougherty's 20 points were her most since her career-high 32-point game against FGCU on Dec. 21

UP NEXT:
The Bears play their final home game of the season on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 2 p.m. against ETSU. It is also senior day as three players, Jaron Dougherty, Amoria Neal-Tysor, and Brittany Reeves will be recognized.

FOLLOW THE BEARS
For complete coverage of Mercer Basketball, please follow the Bears on social media at @Mercer_WBB (Twitter), /MercerWBB (Facebook) and @Mercer_wbb (Instagram) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com.