The Bears defeated Kennesaw State University 66-49 in Hawkins Arena on Monday, Nov. 29, securing a 5-3 record for the season.
The game started off slow and the Bears were trailing for the entire first quarter until a buzzer-beater layup from freshman, Nigeria Harkless. In the second quarter, the Bears outscored the Owls 23-11, which they would capitalize on and use to win the game. Freshman Erin Houpt peaked in the quarter, scoring 8 of her 11 points for the game with two threes and a jumper.
Mercer kept this energy in the third quarter by going on a 14-10-point run. In the fourth quarter the pace slowed down again and the teams both scored 13 points, but it was too late for the Owls to make a comeback.
Over the weekend, the Bears traveled to Tennessee to play teams in Murfreesboro and Nashville. They played Middle Tennessee on Friday, Dec. 3 and lost 49-59 after a tough night.
Scoring came primarily from Shannon Titus, Jaron Dougherty and Endia Banks. The Bears only had 7 offensive rebounds compared to the Lady Raider’s 16. Middle Tennessee went on a 22-12 scoring run from the end of the first quarter to the half. This played a crucial role in giving them the momentum to finish out the game on top, which they did.
In the fourth quarter, however, the Bears kept the Lady Raiders from scoring in the last six minutes and outscored them 10-7, though the damage was already done.
The Bears bounced back from Friday’s loss and beat Tennessee State 71-70 on Sunday, Dec. 5.
In the beginning of the game, it looked like the Bears had the game in the bag, but in the second half, the Tigers scored 41 points in the second half and took the game into overtime. The Bears outscored the Tigers 9-8 in the extra period, clinching a one-point win.
As a team, the Bears went 30 for 58 from the field and 3 for 8 from behind the arc, with a 50% success rate from the free-throw line. They had 32 rebounds for the night and an impressive 10 steals, when they average about seven steals a game. Dougherty led the team again with 18 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds. Banks and Allie Thayne each had 6 rebounds while Shannon Titus threw in 5.
With a pair of wins and a loss this week, Mercer’s record has moved to 6-4 overall. They will not take the court again until Sunday, Dec. 12 as they play the University of Central Florida at Hawkins Arena at 2 p.m.
