Bears Too Much For Visiting Young Harris

Wednesday, October 30

Macon, Ga.

7 p.m.

Mercer University

0-0,0-0SoCon

Young Harris

0-0,0-0Conference Carolinas

Young Harris

Mercer

10/30/2024 9:13:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

MACON – Mercer shot better than 52 percent in the opening half and scored 29 points off of 22 Young Harris turnovers as the Bears successfully kicked off the 2024-25 season with a dominant 61-28 exhibition victory over the visiting Mountain Lions on Wednesday evening in Hawkins Arena.

It was the lone preseason exhibition contest of the season for both teams. The Bears will officially lift the lid on its regular season schedule on Monday when it hosts UNC Asheville in a 7 p.m. contest.

THE BASICS

SCORE: Mercer 61, Young Harris 28
RECORDS: Mercer 0-0 (0-0 SoCon); Young Harris 0-0 (0-0 SoCon)
LOCATION: Macon, Ga. (Hawkins Arena)

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST QUARTER

Mercer came out of the gates on fire, shooting better than 53 percent from the field in the opening stanza on the way to storming out to a double-digit lead after just 10 minutes. Young Harris connected on a 3-pointer at the 5:25 mark to take a short-lived lead, 7-6, but the Bears closed out the first quarter with a 14-2 run to take the lead for good.

2ND QUARTER

The hosts offset six turnovers in the second quarter by retaining their hot hand from the floor, while also holding strong on the defensive side of the ball. The Mountain Lions whittled their deficit all the way down to five points, 20-15, just less than three minutes in, but MU held the visitors at arm's length after that and tacked up the last seven points of the period to carry a 31-18 advantage into the break.

3RD QUARTER

Mercer registered 6-for-11 (.545) shooting in the third quarter and eventually pushed its lead out to 20 points, 42-22, after a pair of free throws from Kayla Smith. Smith canned a nifty 3-pointer two minutes later to pad the advantage out to 23 points, but Young Harris got a layup from Hannah Dunn, as well as a free throw from Suzan Sisman, to trim its deficit back again.

4TH QUARTER

Chassidy Fedd's free throw just 40 seconds into the final quarter would be all the scoring the visitors would muster for the remainder of the game as Mercer outscored the visitors, 14-1, in the fourth quarter to provide the final. The Bears forced eight turnovers in the final stanza, and held their own on the offensive end with 45.5 percent shooting.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

+ Junior Chelsy Bautista went 8-for-9 from the field and led all scorers in the contest with 16 points. She also added five rebounds, five steals and one assist.
+ Junior Kayla Smith recorded a game-best three 3-pointers and shot 5-for-8 from the field on the way to 15 points. She also collected four rebounds and a pair of steals to complement her offensive numbers.
+ Senior Nahawa Diarra finished the evening with eight points on 3-for-5 shooting, while junior Aliyah Collins turned in a game-best six assists, while also picking up a trio of steals.

NOTABLES

+ Mercer got 23 points from its bench on Wednesday evening, mainly from the hot-handed Kayla Smith who scored 15 points in 23 minutes of action.
+ The Bears finished the evening with an impressive 10-for-12 clip from the free throw line, going 2-for-2 from the charity stripe in each of the first three quarters.
+ MU tallied 13 assists on 23 made field goals in the contest, while 13 steals led directly to 19 fast-break points.

UP NEXT

Mercer will be back at home again on Monday when the Bears suit up to take on UNC Asheville in a 7 p.m. contest inside Hawkins Arena. Tickets are still available, and can be purchased by visiting MercerBears.com/Tickets.

STAY CONNECTED

Follow Mercer Women's Basketball on Twitter and Instagram and "Like" Mercer Women's Basketball on Facebook.

BACK THE BEARS

Fans can help support the Mercer athletics department by making a gift to the Mercer Athletic Foundation. To find out more information about the Mercer Athletic Foundation, email maf@mercer.edu.