January 10, 2011

Shooting Woes Hinder Bears in Loss at Campbell

BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Mercer freshman Brittnee Hazel notched her second-straight double-double as the Bears were defeated by Campbell, 68-46 in Monday afternoon’s Atlantic Sun women’s basketball game at Gore Arena.

Campbell captured its fourth-straight win and moved to 5-10 (4-2 A-Sun) while Mercer dropped its eighth-straight game and fell to 1-13 (1-4 A-Sun).

Hazel tallied a team-high 19 points and added 10 rebounds in the losing effort.  Freshman Rebecca Clanton reached a career-high with 11 points while adding two rebounds and a steal.

Hazel has now scored in double digits in four of Mercer’s last five games.

Freshman Sharnea Boykin dished 10 assists and scored three points against the Camels.  Boykin has now tallied 10 assists in three of Mercer’s last five games.

Boykin’s three 10 assist games give her the most double-digit assist performances in a single season for a Mercer player since Sally Skeldon accomplished the feat four times in the 2005-06 campaign.

After taking a 19-point advantage into halftime, Campbell’s Lauren Yesh drilled a trey 1:01 into the second half into the second half to move the host lead back to 22.  Campbell led by at least 19 the rest of the way.

Both teams had a sluggish start to the second half, as the opening 9:20 saw a combined 5-for-32 shooting effort between the two teams.

Mercer finished the second stanza 9-of-39 from the floor.

Yesh finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.

Campbell opened the game on a 15-2 run behind seven points from Yesh.  The Camels connected on six of their first eight field goal attempts while the Bears began 1-for-5 from the field.

Campbell extended its lead to 21-4 before Boykin found Hazel for back-to-back layups, trimming Mercer’s deficit to 21-8.  Hazel finished the half with nine points, six of which were aided by an assists from Boykin.

The hosts would extend their lead to as many as 22 in the opening period before Clanton drilled a wild three as time expired, sending Mercer to the locker room behind, 43-24.

Campbell’s strong first half was fueled by long-range shooting.  Campbell connected on six treys in the first half and finished the period 15-for-30 from the floor.

Mercer returns to action at Stetson on Jan. 15.  Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m.