In the last four games, Head Coach Susie Gardner and the Mercer Women’s Basketball team have brought their record to 4-20 (2-11 in conference). Although some important games were dropped there were still some bright spots for the Bears.
First, the team traveled to Florida Gulf Coast University to take on a talented Eagles team. The Bears ended up losing 92-55. Freshman Precious Bridges and junior Alex Phillips each scored 12 points in the loss. FGCU remains unbeaten in A-Sun play. Freshman Alesha Smith was having one of her best collegiate games thus far with a season-high six points and three rebounds before leaving the game with an injury in the second half. Freshman Teanna Robinson also had an impressive outing, booking four points, five rebounds, an assist and a block in 17 minutes.
The next stop for Gardner’s squad was Stetson University. Unfortunately, the Bears could not pull this one out losing 68-46. Sophomore Brianna Williams led all scorers with an impressive 20 points. Sophomore Jasmine Blakemore finished just short of a double-double with 12 points and nine boards before fouling out with 3:31 to go. Her 12-point effort was one point short of tying a season-best effort. Freshman Tabitha Bradshaw was able to dish out four assists in the losing effort.
The Bears then came home to face a tough East Tennessee State University team. Again, Gardner’s bunch could not prevail falling 75-59. Three players scored in double figures. Sophomore Briana Williams scored a team-high 16 points in the loss. Williams’ 16 points came with five assists, four rebounds and a steal. Freshmen Precious Bridges and Alicia Williams scored 11 and 10, respectively.
In their last game of the week against USC Upstate, Mercer snapped its 13-game losing streak winning 87-71, but the name on everyone’s lips was “Brianna Williams.” Last year’s “Freshman of the Year” proved why she should be in the running for “Player of the Year” this season by amassing a record-setting 54 points in one game. With a tie for the program record at 51 points, 30 seconds were left on the clock. Gardner gave the control to Williams to call her own play.
“My assistants told me not to tell her how close she was to the record,” Gardner said. “As it got towards the end I could see she was fatigued, so I told her. I felt like if I let her know she could turn it on. On the final possession we had to shoot because of the shot clock, so I let her call her own play and she came up with a huge shot.”
“I heard it over the speakers that I tied the record,” Williams said. “I really wasn’t looking to score on the final possession, but when I came down the defender gave me some space so I let it fly.”
Williams’ performance broke the 20-year-old mark set by Andrea Congreaves, who held the record with a pair of 51-point games. Williams’ effort on Saturday also bested the all-time Atlantic Sun record. Her 54 points were just six shy of the all-time NCAA Division I record.
Head Coach Susie Gardner, Brianna Williams and the rest of the Bears shift their focus to instate rivals Kennesaw State in a match-up this coming Sat
