Lawrence’s Double-Double Paces Bears Past Spartans, 58-47

Saturday, February 11

Macon, Ga.

2:00 PM ET

Mercer University

20-5, 9-2SoCon

UNCG

14-12, 5-6SoCon

Team	1	2	3	4	F
UNCG	10	6	15	16	47
Mercer	14	19	9	16	58

PDF Box Score

Photo courtesy of Judy Stapleton

Photo by: Judy Stapleton

Lawrence’s Double-Double Paces Bears Past Spartans, 58-47

2/11/2017 5:16:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

MACON, Ga. – Kahlia Lawrence tallied 11 points and a career-high 12 rebounds as she led the Mercer women's basketball team to a 58-47 win over UNCG on Saturday afternoon. The Bears notched their third straight 20-win season, marking the first time in the NCAA era that Mercer has recorded three consecutive seasons with 20 or more wins.

Mercer defense was stifling once again in the first half, allowing UNCG to score just 16 points. The Bears grabbed a 14-10 lead at the end of the first period and outscored the Spartans 19-6 in the second quarter to lead 33-16 at the half. UNCG battled back in the second half, but Mercer held the Spartans off and earned the win on Senior Day at Hawkins Arena.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Mercer led 14-10 after the first period and opened the second quarter with a 10-2 run that stretched the Bears' lead to 24-12. After a couple of Spartan baskets, the Bears closed out the first half with seven unanswered points to take a 33-16 lead at intermission.

UNCG outscored Mercer 15-9 in the third period to cut the Bears' lead to 41-32. The teams went back and forth in the final period as neither picked up any late-game momentum and both scored 16 points.

NOTABLES

Mercer improved to 20-5 on the season, marking the third straight 20-win season for the Bears. This is the first time in the NCAA era and just the second time in program history that Mercer has won 20 or more games in three consecutive seasons.
Kahlia Lawrence recorded her second double-double of the season with 11 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, leading Mercer in both. She also led the Bears with five assists and added a steal.
Alex Williams notched nine points, seven rebounds, a season-high-tying two assists and a steal for the Bears.
Linnea Rosendal also had nine points and added two rebounds, two assists and a steal for Mercer.
Rachel Selph tallied seven points, seven rebounds, a block and a steal.
Sydni Means totaled seven points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Mercer outrebounded UNCG, 44-34, and won the turnover battle, 11-13.
The Bears' bench contributed 24 points, compared to just 10 from the Spartan reserves.
Mercer was 11-for-13 from the charity stripe for an 84.6 free throw percentage, the highest for the Bears in SoCon play.

COACH GARDNER'S TAKE
On the strong defensive effort in the first half:
"I don't think about it until I go back into the locker room, but on Thursday it was 15 points and UNCG had 16 points today at halftime. I'm really pleased with our defensive effort. I'm a little disappointed in the way we came out in the third quarter. UNCG beat us in the second half and we've got to be a little more mature in terms of our response in trying not to let teams back in the game. The same thing happened to us at their place – we were up 20 and then they came back. I was really pleased with our post play; I thought our posts did a good job. It was a good win for us – last home game, hard to believe – but we're playing pretty well actually."

On the contributions from the bench:
"Alex (Williams) is good enough to start but she gives us such a spark when she comes in. We weren't rebounding the ball at all and Alex was sitting there watching it, she goes in and she gets four quick rebounds. Linnea (Rosendal) is back shooting the basketball well when teams are in zone. We need everybody; we need everyone doing their role – everyone is aware of what their role is and we need to do that role to the best of their ability."

RECORDS UPDATE

Mercer: 20-5, 9-2 SoCon
UNCG: 14-12, 5-6 SoCon

UP NEXT

Mercer: At Wofford on Thursday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m.
UNCG: Hosts Chattanooga on Thursday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m.

How to Follow the Bears:
For complete coverage of Mercer Women's Basketball, please follow the Bears on social media at @MercerWBB (Twitter), /MercerWBB (Facebook) and @MercerWBB (Instagram) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com.