Mercer bounces back against East Tennessee State

Coming off their second Southern Conference loss of the season, the Merer women got just the start they needed Saturday at East Tennessee State.

The Bears jumped out to a 20-point first-quarter lead and then held off the Buccaneers for a 71-56 win to improve to 18-5 overall and 7-2 in the conference. The Buccaneers fall to 14-10 and 6-3. Mercer completed a season-sweep of East Tennessee State after winning 72-55 last month.

Junior Kahlia Lawrence continued her strong season with a game-high 21 points as eight Mercer players scored. Sophomore Rachel Selph, who got her first start of the season, had a career-high 15 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Lawrence hit 8-of-14 shots from the floor, while Selph was 5-of-6 from the floor and the free-throw line.

Junior point guard Sydni Means added 13 points and seven assists. Means was 5-of-8 from the free-throw line.

Mercer led 23-3 at the end of the first quarter only to have East Tennessee State cut that lead to 31-22 at the half. Mercer, however, slowly pulled away in the second half.

The Bears shot 26-of-51 from the floor (51.0 percent), while the Buccaneers shot 19-of-62 (30.6 percent). Mercer made 5-of-11 from behind the 3-point line.

The Bears return home Thursday to host Western Carolina. Mercer rallied from a 16-0 deficit to beat Western Carolina 59-57 last month.

This story was originally published February 4, 2017 at 6:03 PM with the headline "Mercer bounces back against East Tennessee State."