Mercer Downs Wofford, 75-54, to Advance to Semifinals
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Three players scored in double figures and Mercer shot 50.0 percent from the floor to down Wofford, 75-54, in the final game of the first round of the Southern Conference Women’s Basketball Championship presented by General Shale. The win moves Mercer to 18-13 on the season and advances the Bears to Friday’s semifinals where they will face ETSU. The loss ends Wofford’s season with an 8-22 record.
SoCon Freshman of the Year Kahlia Lawrence led the Bears offensively with 16 points, also adding six rebounds. Alicia Williams added 15 points, while Alex Williams added 10 points and 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the year. SoCon Player of the Year Precious Bridges was mostly quiet on Thursday, finishing with eight points and a team-high five assists.
Junior Jordan Frazier led Wofford with 15 points, while sophomore Maria Corella added 14. Ashton Fleming and Grayson Pinholster each turned in a team-high-tying four rebounds.
Mercer opened the game with three quick baskets, forcing Wofford to call a timeout less than three minutes into the game. Mercer pushed the lead to 8-0, before Wofford got on the board with 17:21 remaining thanks to a layup by Grayson Pinholster. The Terriers used a three-point play from Jordan Frazier to cut the lead to three, then forced five turnovers over the next four minutes to keep the Bears at bay. Frazier scored again for the Terriers, to cut the lead to one at 10-9 with 13:36 remaining.
A free throw by Precious Bridges pushed the lead to two at 11-9, but two made baskets from the charity stripe by Ashton Fleming tied the game at 11 with 12:20 left in the half. Out of the media timeout, Mercer stepped up the defensive pressure, holding Wofford to one of the next seven field goals over the next 3:00, while using a 6-0 run on the offensive end.
The Bears continued their offensive pressure, stretching the lead to eight, before a three by Maria Corella cut the lead to five. After a Bears’ basket on one end, Chanel Stokes drained a three on the other to cut the Mercer lead to four at 23-19. A quick 5-0 lead by Mercer pushed the lead back to nine leading into the final media timeout of the half. Out of the timeout, the Bears continued to pile on the pressure, using a three by Alicia Williams and holding Wofford to a 4:10 scoring drought to take a 31-22 lead into halftime.
Neither team came out hot on the offensive end to start the second half, combining for just two baskets in the half’s first four minutes. Out of the half’s first media timeout, two free throws by Briana Williams pushed Mercer’s lead to 12 at 39-27, before free throws by Kentra Washington cut the lead to ten. The teams then traded baskets to keep Mercer’s lead at ten heading into the under-12:00 media timeout.
Mercer used an 8-2 run out of the timeout to stretch the lead to 52-35 with 9:27 remaining, before a jumper by Maria Corella cut into the Bears’ lead with 9:11 left in the game. The teams again traded baskets until Mercer used a 6-0 run to grab its largest lead of the game at 67-46 with 4:32 remaining.
The teams traded baskets in the final four and a half minutes of game time, with Mercer claiming the 75-54 victory to move to Friday’s semifinals.
Strong Second Half Pushes ETSU Past Western Carolina
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Down 27-26 at halftime, ETSU out-scored Western Carolina 47-26 over the game’s final 20 minutes to win, 73-53, in the third game of the first round of the Southern Conference Women’s Basketball Championship, presented by General Shale. The win moves ETSU to 20-10 and advances the Buccaneers to Friday’s semifinal to face the winner of the Mercer/Wofford first-round game. The loss ends Western Carolina’s season at 11-19 (3-11 SoCon).
Tianna Tarter led the Buccaneers with 14 points, while Maria Bond added 12 points and 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the season. Shamuria Bridges and Destiny Mitchell each also scored in double-figures with 12 and 10, respectively. The Buccaneers shot 50 percent for the game, including an impressive 64 percent in the second half.
Ace Easter led Western Carolina with 13 points, while Justin Taylor added 11 and a team-high four assists. Sherae Bonner added a team-high eight rebounds for Western Carolina.
The teams traded baskets early in the half, before ETSU used a 6-0 run to take a 13-5 lead and force Western Carolina to call a timeout. Out of the timeout, the Catamounts used a 6-0 run of their own to cut the lead to 13-11 heading into the under-12:00 media timeout. Western Carolina continued its offensive outburst after the timeout, grabbing a 17-13 lead, while also excelling on the defensive side of the ball, holding league-scoring leader ETSU without a basket over a period of 5:59.
A layup by Tianna Tarter ended the 12-2 ETSU scoring run, cutting the Western Lead to 17-15 with 8:04 remaining. After a jumper gave Western Carolina its biggest lead of the game at five, ETSU responded with five-straight points of its own to tie the game at 20 with 4:43 remaining in the half. The teams traded baskets out of the final media timeout of the half, with Western Carolina taking a 27-26 lead into halftime.
The teams again went back and forth to start off the second half, until ETSU grabbed its first lead since leading 13-11 in the first half, when a layup by Destiny Mitchell gave the Buccaneers a 38-37 lead with 12:46 remaining. After a free throw by Ace Easter tied the game at 38, ETSU piled on the pressure, holding ETSU to one of its next six shots, while using a 12-3 run to take a 50-41 lead with 9:05 remaining.
The Buccaneers used a 23-12 run over the game’s final nine minutes, capped off by a layup from Adrian Vaughan, to take the 73-53 victory and advance to Friday’s semifinal.