Bears Rally Late, Tough Out Win At Kennesaw State

Monday, December 30

Kennesaw, Ga.

7 p.m.

Mercer University

5-10,0-0SoCon

Kennesaw State

5-6,0-0CUSA

Mercer

Kennesaw St.

Photo by: Photo: Kennesaw State Athletics

Bears Rally Late, Tough Out Win At Kennesaw State

12/30/2024 8:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

KENNESAW – Visiting Mercer used a go-ahead 3-pointer from Kayla Smith with 32 seconds left to retake the lead, and then got two clutch free throws from Talia Harris 22 seconds later, to grind out a 62-59 victory at Kennesaw State on Monday evening inside the KSU Convocation Center.

The result snapped a five-game losing streak for the Bears (5-10) who have now captured four-straight meetings in the series with their in-state counterparts. Kennesaw State (5-6) got 34 points and 15 rebounds from Prencis Harden – her Conference USA-leading sixth double-double of the season – but fell just short of their first win over Mercer since the 2019-20 season.

THE BASICS

SCORE: Mercer 62, Kennesaw State 59
RECORDS: Mercer 5-10 (0-0 SoCon); Kennesaw State 5-6 (0-0 CUSA)
LOCATION: Kennesaw, Ga. (KSU Convocation Center)

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST QUARTER

The squads combined for 44 points and 47 percent shooting in the opening period, but it was Mercer that lugged a 24-20 advantage into the second stanza. Kennesaw State tacked up the first three points of the evening, but the Bears answered with a 9-0 run over the next three minutes to storm ahead.

2ND QUARTER

Scoring took a backseat to turnovers, blocks and rebounds in the second quarter, although Talia Harris's pull-up jumper at the buzzer gave the visitors a 32-26 lead heading into the locker rooms. The teams combined for 7-for-27 (.259) field goal shooting in the second quarter, as well as 13 turnovers and six blocks.

3RD QUARTER

Kennesaw State scored seven points on as many Mercer turnovers in the third period on the way to reclaiming the lead for the first time since early in the first quarter. The Bears pushed their lead out to eight points, 39-31, on Nahawa Diarra's old-fashioned 3-point play at the 7:36 mark, but Prencis Harden's running jumper on the other end of the court sparked the hosts on a 12-3 run that eventually gave them a 43-42 lead just more than four minutes later.

4TH QUARTER

Mercer shot 55.6 percent (5-for-9) in the final frame, as well as turned the table by netting 10 points off of eight KSU turnovers, to fuel the comeback win. Prencis Harden gave the Owls a 53-46 lead with 8:30 left to play, but the Bears scored 10 of the game's next 13 points to whittle away at their deficit and eventually knot the game back up on a pair of free throws from Nahawa Diarra at the 2:37 mark. Harden canned a pair of free throws on the other end of the court 14 seconds later, but Kayla Smith gave the visitors the last laugh with her late trey.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

+ Senior Nahawa Diarra scored 10 of her team-best 14 points in the second half, while also adding five boards and a pair of assists.
+ Freshman Talia Harris registered double-digit scoring for the second-straight game with 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting against the Owls. She complemented her point total with three assists and two rebounds.
+ Junior Ariana Bennett fueled an 11-point night with a 5-for-5 tally from the free throw line, while also turning in five rebounds and two steals.

NOTABLES

+ Monday's triumph marked the fourth-straight win for the Bears in the series against Kennesaw State. Mercer has now captured 12 of the last 14 matchups with the Owls as well.
+ MU's 17-for-20 tally from the free throw line on Monday marked the seventh time this season that the Orange & Black has connected on at least 80 percent of its free throw attempts. The Bears have now canned at least 75 percent of their free throw attempts in five out of their last six outings.
+ The Bears logged double-digit steals (10) for the fifth time this season on Monday evening in Kennesaw, and have now produced 10 or more steals in three out of their last four contests.

UP NEXT

The Bears will get a nearly 2-week layoff from competition before resuming their 2024-25 schedule on January 11 against Samford (4-11, 0-0 SoCon) inside Hawkins Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. That contest will mark the league opener for both sides.

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BACK THE BEARS

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