Sharp Shooting Eagles Take Down Mercer Women 69-57

MACON, Ga. (MERCER RELEASE) – The Mercer women’s basketball team received a career-high 15 points from Sharnea Boykin, but FGCU countered with 13 three-pointers to race past the Bears 69-57 Saturday afternoon at Hawkins Arena in Atlantic Sun Conference action.

Mercer (9-8, 2-4) drops three consecutive conference home games for the first team in over two years, while the Eagles (11-6, 5-0) continue to roll, winning their 13th-straight game against the Bears in the all-time series and capturing the program’s 41st-conecutive conference victory.

“We battled to the end, we never quit and kept fighting” said head coach Susie Gardner. “I have used the word consistency all year and we have to do a better job playing in four-minute spurts.” It’s not so much individual consistency as team consistency and it’s my job to figure that out.”

Offensive rebounds was the story in the early going, as FGCU pulled down six of its missed shots to create second-chance opportunities and jump out to 12-4 lead when Jenna Cobb drilled a three-pointer with 12:49 left in the opening half.

The long ball continued to pay dividends for the Eagles two minutes later when Whitney Knight knocked down a trey from the wing to give FGCU its first double-digit lead of the game at 17-6 with 9:39remaining in the period.

Facing an 11-point deficit, Mercer never blinked and rallied back with 10 unanswered points, paced by a pair of three-pointers from Briana Williams and four points from Kendra Grant to cut the FGCU lead to 17-16 with 6:53 left in the half.

The Eagles responded with a big spurt of their own however, using a 10-2 run to eventually take a double-digit lead into intermission at 32-22.

The long ball was in full effect for FGCU the opening minutes of the second half, as the Eagles connected on a trio of treys to quickly push their lead to 17 and force the Bears into a timeout less than three minutes into the period.

FGCU continued to light it up from the field and run away with the game, using a 21-2 run to extend its lead to 30 points with9:36 remaining in the contest.

Mercer battled back and cut the FGCU lead to 12 points in the final minute, but the Eagles picked up the 69-57 victory to keep their place atop the conference standings.

Briana Williams tied her season-high with 20 points, while Boykin’s career-high 15 points was spurred by a 7-for-7 stint at the charity stripe.

Knight led a trio of Eagles in doubles figures with 18, while Kaneisha Atwater added 14 points and Stephanie Haas chipped in 11.

The Bears return to action on Thursday, Jan. 23, traveling to USC Upstate for another Atlantic Sun Conference matchup with the Spartans. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m.inside the Hodge Center.