November 28, 2010

Comeback Bid Falls Short for Women’s Basketball

ATLANTA, Ga. – Mercer sophomore Sharmesia Smith scored a season-high 12 points and the Bears closed to within two points of Alabama A&M in the waning seconds, but the Bulldogs forced a key stop and ultimately prevailed 63-59 in Sunday afternoon’s women’s basketball contest. 

The game was held at the GSU Sports Arena and was the consolation game of the Georgia State Thanksgiving Tournament. With the win, Alabama A&M moved to 1-3 while Mercer fell to 0-5.

Holding possession and trailing 61-59 with 1:00 on the clock, Mercer turned to its prolific freshman scorer Briana Williams to force a tie game.  Williams drove the lane, created space and released a pull-up jumper that swirled around the rim and back out.

Alabama A&M’s Whiquitta Tobar came away with the defensive rebound and scored with a pull-up jumper of her own on the other end to seal the victory for the Bulldogs.

“This was the first game this year that we were in position to coach in a time and score situation,” head coach Susie Gardner said. “We did a good job in the press and created a few turnovers that helped us fight back in the final minutes.”

Despite leading the majority of the first half, Mercer found itself behind by as many as nine points in the second stanza.  Down 61-53 with 2:46 to go, freshman point guard Sharnea Boykin employed a lightning quick crossover move, forcing the defense to foul her.

Boykin hit her first free throw, marking the start of a 6-0 run that elapsed 1:35 and set the stage for the final exchange.

Boykin finished with nine points, four rebounds and four assists in the loss.  Smith added five rebounds and an assist to her 12 points.

“As a coaching staff we challenged [Smith] before the game to run the floor every single time and she did, that’s why got the lead,” Gardner said. “She has the potential to be a special player for us.”

Williams netted 10 of her 12 points in the final 20 minutes of game time while also contributing a pair of rebounds and an assist.

In the first half, with the score knotted at six, Boykin found shooters in the corner of the floor for three pointers on back-to-back possessions to give Mercer a 12-6 lead.  Boykin’s distribution keyed a 14-5 run that saw Mercer take its largest lead of the game at 20-11.

Later in the first half, Mercer held a 27-20 lead when Tobar drove, released an erratic shot and was fouled.  Tobar’s shot hit the padding on the underside of the backboard and ricocheted in.  Tobar was fouled on the play and moments later converted her free throw attempt.

Tobar’s three-point play ignited a 7-0 run that tied the game for the first time in over 13 minutes.  Each team traded scores over the final minutes of the first half, settling for a 31-31 tie at intermission.

Mercer returns to action with its Atlantic Sun conference opener at Belmont on Thursday December 2.

“Starting conference play next weekend gives us new life,” Gardner said. “We’ve been preparing for this weekend since we got here, so we want to see more energy and excitement knowing what these two games mean.”