Mercer women beat Troy 83-68 in WBI

MACON, Ga. (MERCER ATHLETICS) – Precious Bridges scored a game-high 26 points to lead a quartet of double-digit scorers as the Mercer women’s basketball team used a dominant first half to rout Troy, 83-68, in the first round of the WBI Tournament on Thursday night.

Teanna Robinson notched her fourth double-double of the season with a season-high-tying 17 rebounds and 14 points; she also had three blocks and an assist. Kahlia Lawrence also tallied her fourth double-double of the season with 19 points and 10 rebounds in addition to three assists and two steals. Bridges added five rebounds, three assists and a steal on the night.

Briana Williams rounded out the double-figure efforts with 13 points and had two rebounds, two blocks and a steal. Alicia Williams recorded eight points, three rebounds, a team-high four assists, two blocks and a steal.

Alex Williams contributed six rebounds and three points, while Sydni Means dished out three assists and grabbed a steal and a rebound. Brittnee Broadway had two rebounds and an assist, Madi Mitchell snagged two rebounds and added an assist, and Kayla Potts pulled down a rebound of her own.

“I thought the first half was one of the best halves of basketball this team has played all year,” said Head Coach Susie Gardner. “Overall, we shot the ball exceptionally well, we handled their pressure and we had a couple of players with double-doubles; obviously Teanna’s 17 rebounds were great. I thought it was a great team effort. Troy is a great basketball team; they came back at us in the second half, but we handled it and pulled out a win. I’m really pleased with and proud of this team.”

The teams traded baskets for the first 6:17 of the second period, before the Bears embarked on an 8-0 spurt that gave them a 60-34 advantage with 12:27 remaining in the game. After a couple of baskets for each team, the Trojans went on a 15-0 run that lasted exactly three minutes and cut Mercer’s lead to 64-50 with 7:41 to play.

Another back-and-forth ensued for the next five minutes, as Mercer held onto at least a 12 point lead at all times. The Bears added some more breathing room with seven consecutive free throws that gave them an 83-61 advantage with 1:42 on the clock. Troy scored the final seven points of the game to put the score at 83-68.

On the night, Mercer hit 43.3 percent of its shots from the field and connected on 87 percent of its trips to the charity stripe. Troy recorded a 33.3 field goal percentage and went 10-for-14 at the free throw line.

The Bears started strong, surging to a 25-4 lead in the first 10 minutes of play. During Mercer’s hot streak, Troy was just 2-18 from the field and turned the ball over five times.

The Trojans finally found the basket and used a 12-3 run to cut Mercer’s lead to 28-16 with 7:04 left in the first half. The final minutes of the half were slower, but Mercer outscored Troy to stretch its lead to 42-25 before intermission.

Mercer connected on 47.4 percent of its shots in the first half, including 50 percent from behind the three-point line. The Bears tied a season high of 42 first half points, which was originally set against Georgia Southern, who is in the Sun Belt Conference with Troy. After a slow start, Troy improved to 31.4 percent shooting in the half.

Next up, Mercer will host Marshall on Sunday, March 22 at 3 p.m. at Hawkins Arena in the second round of the WBI Tournament.

For all the latest information on Mercer women’s basketball, please visit MercerBears.com or, for up-to-the-minute updates, follow Mercer basketball on Twitter and Instagram at @MercerWBB or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Mercerwbb.