December 4, 2010

Women’s Basketball Falls at Lipscomb, 67-57

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Mercer freshman Brittnee Hazel had a career-high 21 points on eight-of-nine shooting from the field, but the Bears were defeated by Lipscomb, 67-57 in Saturday evening's Atlantic Sun conference women's basketball game at Allen Arena.

Mercer fell to 1-6 (1-1 A-Sun) while Lipscomb improved to 3-4 (1-0 A-Sun).

"Hazel played her best game of the year," Mercer head coach Susie Gardner said. "We didn't feel like they could guard her and we did a good job of hitting the high-low pass.  She certainly has a knack for getting steals which is very helpful as we try to score in transition.  I'm proud of her."

Facing the absence of forwards Alex Phillips and Kourtney Carter due to illness, Mercer called upon Hazel to play extra minutes and help minimize the impact of the missing post players.

Hazel responded with her best collegiate game, finishing just two rebounds shy of Mercer's first double-double of the season.  Hazel established herself as a force early on the on the game, converting each of her first four field goal attempts and scoring eight points in the first five minutes of the game.

Hazel also collected a career-high six steals in the losing effort. Hazel's classmate, Briana Williams, tallied 18 points and grabbed six rebounds in 37 minutes of action. 

In the first half, Mercer jumped out to a 6-2 lead before Lipscomb responded with a 13-5 run that saw the hosts up by four with just over 13 minutes remaining.

Later in the half, Lipscomb's advantage was still four (24-20) with four minutes to play, but Mercer sophomores Keema Blakney and Amber Chatmon scored on back-to-back possessions to knot the contest at 24 with 2:44 remaining.

Lipscomb outscored Mercer over the remainder of the half and entered intermission ahead by two (30-28).

The Lady Bisons opened the second half on a 5-0 run and never looked back, extending their lead to as many as 12 before closing the game on top, 67-57.

Mercer sophomore Kendra Grant finished with five points while Blakney and Chatmon were each credited with four points.

Mercer returns to action in a non-conference test at Georgia on Dec. 7.  Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.