Northern Kentucky Pulls Away Late for 72-64 Win over Mercer Women

MACON, Ga. (MERCER RELEASE) – The Mercer women’s basketball team’s late rally wasn’t quite enough in a 72-64 loss to Northern Kentucky on Thursday evening at Hawkins Arena.

Mercer (11-10, 4-6 A-Sun) was led by junior Briana Williams who posted a team-high 17 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field to go along with a career-high six assists. Senior Kendra Grant was the only other Bear in double figures with 15 points in the loss.

Both teams started the game very slowly on the offensive side of the ball, with the score 6-2 in favor of Northern Kentucky at the first media timeout with 15:47 left in the first half.

The Bears started to pick things up in the scoring column, thanks to four-straight points by Briana Williams, but the Norse proceeded to rip off an 8-0 run in response to take a 16-8 lead with 11:13 remaining in the first half.

NKU continued to dictate the pace with its long-range shooting, using a pair of trifectas by sophomore Rianna Gayheart and another from freshman Lauren White to take a 24-12 lead with 6:48 to go in the first half.

Mercer started to claw its way back into it, however, using a 13-5 run capped by a three-pointer from Grant to make the score 34-30 in favor of the Norse going into halftime.

The Bears continued to close the gap coming out of intermission, using four-straight points by senior Sharnea Boykin to tie things up at 36-36 with 16:53 to go in the second half.

The game remained deadlocked after a fast break lay-in by junior Precious Bridges made the score 44-44 with 12:58 left in the second half.

After a jumper by Briana Williams made the score 53-52 in favor of Northern Kentucky, the Norse started to create some separation from the Bears. NKU used a 13-4 run to make the score 66-56 with 5:09 remaining in the second half.

Mercer didn’t give up, however, using an 8-0 surge keyed by a straightaway jumper by Grant to pull within two of Northern Kentucky, 66-64, with just 59 seconds left in the game.

That would be as close as the Bears would get, though, as the Norse went on a 6-0 run to finish out the contest and secure the win.

Senior Kayla Thacker led four Norse players in double figures with 19 points. As a team, Northern Kentucky tied a Hawkins Arena record with 14 made three-pointers in the win.

Mercer wraps up its current three-game homestand on Saturday afternoon when it welcomes Lipscomb into town. Game time is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Hawkins Arena.