Mercer Comes Up Short At Furman, 58-56

Saturday, January 27

Greenville, S.C.

2 PM

Mercer University

8-14,2-4SoCon

Furman

12-9,2-3SoCon

Mercer

Furman

1/27/2024 4:44:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Stacie Jones had a team high 20 points

GREENVILLE, S.C. - Mercer couldn't overcome a first half deficit against Furman as the Bears suffered another close loss, falling 58-56 at Furman Saturday afternoon from Timmons Arena.

With the outside shots not falling, the Bears went inside to its forwards as Stacie Jones, Summah Evans, and Mackenzie Johnson combined for 51 points on the afternoon.

Mercer was 34.3 percent from the floor and the Paladins were 39.3 percent shooting on the day. After being outrebounded 28-18 in the first half, the Bears were better on the glass in the second as they outrebounded Furman 25-12 in the second half. Offensive rebounds were 17-11 in favor of Mercer.

Jones led the Bears with 20 points on 9-for-20 shooting to go with eight rebounds. Evans was a rebound shy of a double-double as she had 17 points and nine rebounds. Johnson was an efficient 7-for-10 from the floor on her way to a 14-point performance to go with nine rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST QUARTER

Jones got off to a strong start offensively, scoring eight of Mercer's 11 first quarter points. A three-pointer from Evans gave Mercer its first lead of the game at 9-6. However, Furman closed the quarter scoring the last nine points to lead 15-11 after the first quarter.

2ND QUARTER

Furman took a 22-15 lead midway through the second quarter. Two free throws from Evans got Mercer back within three at 24-21, but Furman took a 30-21 lead going into halftime.

3RD QUARTER

Mercer got off to a good start in the second half as a fastbreak layup from Jones made it a two-point game at 32-30. Furman answered with some tough shot making late in the shot clock and took a 45-35 lead into the fourth quarter.

4TH QUARTER

Another good start to a quarter brought the Bears within three at 47-44 with just under six minutes to play. In the second half of the fourth quarter, the Paladins found a way to respond with a basket after a bucket from the Bears to hold on for the win.

NOTES

Mercer outrebounded Furman 43-30. The Bears have outrebounded their last four conference opponents.
Stacie Jones had her third 20-point game of the season
Mercer tied its season high in assists with 16
The Bears held Furman's leading scorer Jada Session to just two points on 1-of-9 (11.1%) shooting
Mercer had 10 turnovers, its second fewest turnovers in a game this season (Marist, 8)

COACH GARDNER QUOTES

Thoughts On The Game:
"Starting with the first half, I thought Furman did a good job playing us. They outrebounded us in the first half 28-17. They are a great rebounding team, but we feel like we are a great rebounding team. So the first half, we really dug a hole for ourselves. I felt like we came out in the second half looking more like us, and playing hard and being passionate and showing some emotion. Then, I thought Furman did hit a lot of shots at the buzzer. We'd get an end of shot clock opportunity to get stops and I would imagine they hit three or four at the buzzer. Credit to them for hitting tough shots, but we've got to quit digging holes and then when we fight back we've got to be able to maintain it."

On Going Inside When Outside Shots Weren't Falling:
"We weren't hitting outside shots. We were 4-of-20 from three. We feel like our post game is pretty strong and we needed to go inside to Stacie and Mackenzie. They got some offensive rebounds and put backs. Unfortunately, we didn't shoot the ball well from the outside and we had to lean into our strength which is our post game."

UP NEXT
Mercer does not have a game midweek. Next up for the Bears is a trip to Samford on Saturday, Feb. 3 in Birmingham, Alabama.

FOLLOW THE BEARS
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