Stetson Takes Down Mercer Women to Remain Perfect at Home

DELAND, Fla. (MERCER RELEASE) – The Mercer women’s basketball team received a game-high 18 points from Precious Bridges Saturday afternoon, but Stetson used a 13-0 second-half run to pull away for a 62-49 victory at The Edmunds Center in Atlantic Sun Conference action.

Mercer (12-12, 5-8) drops the season series to the Hatters and nine straight games in the all-time series, while Stetson (20-5, 12-1) continues to roll, winning its 13th consecutive contest and moving to a perfect 11-0 at home.

The Bears stayed in striking distance in the opening minutes of the first half with four straight buckets from Teanna Robinson, but the Hatters created their first double-digit lead of the game with a CJ Coddington three-pointer with 6:45 left in the half to make it 24-14.

Stetson led by as many as 15 points in the opening period, but Mercer rallied with five points in the final two minutes of action to trail 36-25 heading to intermission.

The Bears continued their spurt in the opening minutes of the second half, using a jumper from Bridges to spark a 7-0 and cut the Hatter lead to just four points at 36-32.

Stetson quickly responded with a run of its own, scoring 13 consecutive points, capped by a pair of free throws from Brianti Saunders to give the Hatters a 49-32 advantage.

Mercer trailed by as many as 20 points at two different times in the second half, including with 2:43 remaining before going on a tear to end the game. The Bears would outscore the Hatters 8-1 over the final stretch of the game, but come up short, falling 62-49.

Bridges led all scorers with 18 points on 7-for-18 shooting from the field, while Robinson tallied a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds.

The Bears return to action Thursday, Feb. 20, welcoming USC Upstate to town for an Atlantic Sun Matchup inside Hawkins Arena. Tip-off against the Spartans is set for 7 p.m.