Bears Cruise To 78-44 Win Over Western Carolina

Saturday, January 20

Macon, Ga.

2 p.m.

Mercer University

8-12,2-2SoCon

Western Carolina

5-14,0-4SoCon

Western Caro.

Mercer

Bears Cruise To 78-44 Win Over Western Carolina

1/20/2024 5:20:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Postgame Presser Photo Gallery

Mercer outrebounded Western Carolina 53-30

MACON, Ga. - Mercer was dominant on the glass and forced Western Carolina into 24 turnovers as the Bears rolled to a dominant 78-44 win over Western Carolina Saturday afternoon from Hawkins Arena.

The Bears outrebounded the Catamounts 53-30 and had a season high 27 offensive rebounds. Mercer had 13 steals and scored 31 points off of Western Carolina turnovers.

It was another balanced scoring attack for the Bears as all 11 players on the active roster scored. Four players scored in double figures led by Deja Williams' 12 points.

Cianté Downs pulled down a season high 10 rebounds and Williams and Briana Peguero each had four steals on the day.

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST QUARTER

Mercer got off to a bit of a slow start but still lead 5-4 in the opening minutes. The Bears would not take long to pick up their play as they went on an 18-2 run to take a 20-6 lead and led 23-8 after the first quarter.

2ND QUARTER

Stacie Jones scored the first five points of the second quarter for the Bears. Mercer would stretch its lead to the largest of the first half at 37-13 and would go into halftime with a 20 point lead at 37-17.

3RD QUARTER

The Bears would not let Western Carolina get back into the game to start the third quarter as a fastbreak layup from Downs gave Mercer a 46-23 lead with just under four minutes to play in the third quarter. At the end of the third quarter Mercer maintained its 20-point lead and led 51-31.

4TH QUARTER

The balanced scoring for Mercer continued into the fourth quarter as seven different players scored for the Bears in the fourth. Mercer showed the strength of its bench as it closed the game on a 15-3 run.

NOTES

Mercer's 78 points were tied for the most its scored in a game this season
The Bears had a season high 53 rebounds and 27 offensive rebounds. It's +23 rebounding margin was also a season high
The Bears had more offensive rebounds (27) than defensive rebounds (26)
Mercer's 13 steals were tied for the second most in a game this season (15 vs Kennesaw State)
Mercer held Western Carolina to 28.8 percent shooting, the lowest field goal percentage for a Mercer opponent this season
Williams and Peguero each had a season high four steals

COACH GARDNER QUOTES

On Significantly Outrebounding Western Carolina:
"That's a stat that I look at after every game is the rebounding and I was really proud. Now obviously we missed a lot of shots. I thought Cianté and Aspen did an exceptional job on the offensive glass. We need to do a better job on the offensive rebounds and pull it back out and run some more clock, but overall I'm very pleased with our rebounding."

On Defense Getting Better After Slow Start:
"Honestly I did not like the way that we started the game defensively. That was a focal point for us, but then when I put Cianté in she kind of amped it up and got us going. It just takes one [player] sometimes. We scored out of 37 points in the first half, 20 of our points were off turnovers."

CIANTÉ DOWNS QUOTES

On The Team's Strong Rebounding Performance:
"I think we know as a team that's our strength and so we put a lot of time and energy into focusing on rebounding. We knew today that they had some girls that could really rebound. So I think a lot of us just took it upon ourselves to crash the glass and we make that a commitment and its just an effort thing to go get them."

On Maria Serracanta's Play At The End And The Team's Togetherness:
"Everybody on this team works so hard. Not everybody plays as much as they want to but when they go in they do their job. I think Maria just did that. Maria got a steal and she rewarded herself. She made a great move and she finished it. Hanna came in and had a big shot. We are all really really close here. We just want to see everybody else win. We don't really care so much about ourselves but just seeing our teammates win and so that was just great."

UP NEXT
Mercer goes back on the road as they travel to Spartanburg, South Carolina to play Wofford next Thursday. Tip off is at 6 p.m.

FOLLOW THE BEARS
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