Mercer 69, Eastern Kentucky 64
MACON, Ga. – Precious Bridges notched her third consecutive 20-point game as she tallied 21 points in Mercer’s 69-64 win over Eastern Kentucky on Saturday night at Hawkins Arena to wrap up play in the Preseason WNIT. Kahlia Lawrence also added a career-high 18 points and Alicia Williams recorded a season-high-tying 13 points to round out the double-figure scoring for the Bears.
Mercer (2-1) held off a late rally by Eastern Kentucky (1-2), using three free throws from Bridges in the final seconds to do so. The Bears led 57-47 with 6:30 on the clock before the Colonels went on a 13-3 run that knotted the score, 60-60, with just 2:17 left to play.
Mercer scored on back-to-back possessions, gaining a 65-60 advantage with 61 seconds remaining. Thirty-nine seconds later, after each team had taken a trip to the charity stripe and connected on one-of-two shots, Eastern Kentucky’s Michaela Hunter sank a trey that cut Mercer’s lead to 66-64 with 22 ticks on the clock. In the final 17 seconds of the contest, Bridges took two more trips to the free throw line and made three of her four attempts, Eastern Kentucky failed to make another shot and Mercer survived with a final score of 69-64.
Mercer shot 42.4 percent from the field and pulled down 34 rebounds, while Eastern Kentucky connected on 42.1 percent of its shots, including going 7-for-17 from beyond the arc, and notched 38 rebounds. The Bears won the turnover battle, committing just nine compared to the Colonels’ 18.
Eastern Kentucky scored first, but Mercer answered with a 16-2 run that lasted 7:19 and put the Bears on top, 16-5 with 10:41 left in the first half. The teams traded baskets for a few minutes before the Colonels used a 10-4 spurt to cut the Bears’ advantage to 25-23 with 4:22 remaining in the half. Mercer outscored Eastern Kentucky 10-8 in the final minutes to take a 35-31 lead into the locker room.
In the first half, Mercer recorded a 40.6 field goal percentage and connected on 80.0 percent of its’ trips to the free throw line, while Eastern Kentucky shot 44.8 percent from the field.
Next up, Mercer will host Tennessee Tech on Tuesday, Nov. 25 at 7 p.m.
Wofford 55, Charleston Southern 48
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – A late scoring surge led the Wofford women’s basketball team to a 55-48 win over Big South foe Charleston Southern in the Terriers’ home opener on Saturday night at the Benjamin Johnson Arena.
Wofford (1-2) made a vital 14-6 run with 10 minutes left on the clock. Senior Lauren Kirby sparked the run, knocking down six of the first eight points, with two post plays and a pair of free throws. Junior Jordan Frazier then snagged one of her team-high five steals, taking it coast-to-coast for another Wofford bucket.
Charleston Southern (2-1) fought back, bringing the game back to a two point margin on a 10-2 surge powered by sophomore Tatum Jarvis. Jarvis netted six of her team-high 14 points during the run, but couldn’t will the visiting Buccaneers to victory.
Three Terriers ended the evening scoring double digits. Frazier led the team off the bench, netting 12 in the contest. She shot 4-of-11 from the field while going a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. Guards Chanel Stokes (4-7 FG, 3-8 FT) and Maria Corella (3-6 FG, 4-4 FT) added 11 points apiece. Junior guard Ashton Fleming added nine points while grabbing a team-high seven boards.
Jarvis was Charleston Southern’s only player to earn more than 10 points. Rochelle Brophy added a second-best eight off of the bench, while Natasha Lebedeva scored seven. Alise Karlsone and Monique Maximilien each grabbed six rebounds for the Bucs.
Both teams struggled from the field in the first half, with the Terriers shooting 6-of-17 (35.3 pct.), while the Buccaneers were held to 26.1 percent – just 6-of-23. Wofford’s offensive production jumped in the second half, with the Terriers sinking 50 percent of their shots, making 14 field goals and adding 12 points from the free throw line. The Terriers made havoc on the defensive end, forcing the Buccaneers into 27 turnovers, scoring 18 off of the mistakes. Charleston Southern’s size helped them edge Wofford in rebounds (32-31) and second chance points (8-6). Despite Frazier’s production, Charleston Southern outscored Wofford’s bench points, putting up 26 to the Terriers’ 16.
Both sides put up just four points each in the opening 10 minutes. Quick layups from Alecia Hardy and Karlsone gave the Bucs a brief advantage, before an Ashton Fleming jumper followed by a shot and two free throws from Corella gave the Terriers a 10-8 edge with just over seven minutes remaining in the first. The two sides traded buckets the rest of the half – Frazier and Fleming scoring for Wofford, while Lebedeva and Brophy netted two’s for the Bucs to send the sides into the locker rooms at 14-12.
After Jarvis pulled the game within two points late in the second half, Wofford snuck ahead by eight. Corella drained a crucial three with 1:47 remaining in the game. A turnover by Brophy then led to a Kirby layup to give the Terriers a 51-44 advantage. Stokes knocked down a free throw to give Wofford 52 before the Bucs would respond. Charleston Southern had too little, too late, and were forced to foul the Terriers to try and catch up, eventually dropping the seven-point game.
Wofford will hit the road once again on Monday, travelling down to Jacksonville, Alabama, where they will face Jacksonville State on Tuesday evening. The Terriers and the Gamecocks clash at 6:30 p.m.
Presbyterian 51, Western Carolina 44
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Senior guard Justin Taylor recorded her first career double-double, 20 points and 10 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough as Western Carolina women’s basketball was edged by Presbyterian College 51-44 Saturday in the Ramsey Center.
Taylor scored almost half of the Catamounts’ points in the contest hitting eight field goals, three of them three pointers, and 8-of-17 from the field. On the glass, Taylor’s 10 rebounds was a career-high with seven of them coming off the offensive glass.
It was a very tight contest with Western Carolina leading for most of the first half. Up by one, 13-12, with 8:04 left in the first, the Catamounts relinquished the lead when Elizabeth Landers hit lay-up giving the Blue Hose their first lead of the half. It was short-lived when WCU hit back-to-back field goals from Taylor and Emily Hatfield to make it 17-14.
Presbyterian re-took the lead in the final two minutes of the game with a pair of free throws and a three-pointer by Rebecca Walker. Trailing by three, 23-20, Western Carolina knotted the game before the half as senior Makensey Campbell nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer.
It was a see-saw game in the first minute of the second half with the Blue Hose breaking the 23 all tie with a free throw by Walker. The Catamounts got the lead back off a lay-up by Sherae Bonner. Presbyterian lead again, 25-26 thanks to a lay-up by Aianna Kelly and then went back to WCU off a lay-up by Brianne Mack.
With Western Carolina leading 27-26 early in the second half, a pair of free throws by Presbyterian’s Landers gave the Blue Hose the tie and the lead, 28-27. WCU would tie it one more time, 28 all, when Taylor hit a free throw. Presbyterian answered with a jumper by Cortney Storey, 30-28, and the Blue Hose would never trail again.
Presbyterian could never build a double digit lead on Western Carolina but did register its largest lead of nine points, 37-28, with 14:38 left.
With 7:10 remaining, Western Carolina trimmed the Presbyterian lead to two, 39-37 when Bonner hit a lay-up. It was the finale of a 5-0 run, which included a three-pointer by Taylor. Presbyterian got back up to a four-point lead off a jumper by Noelle Carter. Taylor trimmed it back to two for WCU when she hit a jumper – it was the closest the Catamounts would get in the game in the final five minutes.
Presbyterian just edged Western Carolina in rebounding, 38-36, and the Blue Hose had 26 offensive rebounds. The Catamounts hit six three pointers in the game but only went to the free throw line six times hitting two.
WCU shot 32.1 percent from the field while Presbyterian hit 39.2 percent. The Blue Hose also benefitted from 12 second-chance points.
Freshman Ace Easter was just shy of registering double figure scoring with eight points and also hit two three pointers. After back-to-back double-double performances Sherae Bonner was held to six points and six rebounds by Presbyterian.
Western Carolina completes its four-game home-stand Monday when it hosts Campbell. Tip time is set for 7 p.m. and fans can watch the game on the SoCon Digital Network or listen on the Catamount Sports Network.