Mercer needs to keep an eye on turnovers and two more takeaways from day one of SoCon
The Mercer Bears put together a dominating performance in the opening round of the SoCon tournament. Here are three takeaways from the Bears’ 55-32 win over Western Carolina.
1. KeKe Calloway is a special talent
Anyone who’s watched the Bears over the last four years likely already knows this.
Calloway doesn’t talk much, doesn’t celebrate much, never lets her emotions get too low or too high. The sharpshooter goes about her business and lets her skills do the talking.
Against the Catamounts, Calloway finished 7-14 from the field and 3-6 from 3-point range. She led all scorers with 18 points.
The Bears struggled early on as the Catamounts held a 2-0 lead to start the game. Western Carolina brought a lot of energy out of the locker room and looked poised to take over the game early. But Calloway put an end to the hopes of an upset early on as she scored 7 of the Bears’ first 9 points to give them a 9-2 lead.
And the team never looked back. At one point late in the third quarter, Calloway was outscoring the entire Western Carolina team 18-17.
The Bears will need her to be at her best once again when the team takes on Wofford Friday at 11 a.m.
2. Offensive struggles continue
Heading into the conference tournament, head coach Susie Gardner wasn’t thrilled with how her offense was playing. After averaging around 70 points a game for a stretch during the middle of the season, the team has failed to eclipse that number in the last four games including against Western Carolina.
While the team shot the ball relatively well against the Catamounts, it was the 18 turnovers that stand out on the stat sheet. The Bears are normally good about creating turnovers and limiting their own.
Against Western Carolina, they weren’t able to hold on to the basketball as the Catamounts won the turnover battle. Luckily for the Bears, the opposing team was unable to capitalize on those turnovers. Mercer held the edge in points off turnovers 15-11 despite having few opportunities.
Going forward, the Bears will play teams that can make them pay for those mistakes. It will be important for Mercer to correct those in order to have a chance to repeat as conference champions. This game should help get out all the postseason jitters and the team will come out more efficient in the second round.
“Our offense was a little off. We had 18 turnovers which is atypical of us,” Gardner said. “But overall I am very pleased to get that game under our belts.”
3. LaKaitlin Wright is a name to watch for
The sophomore center averaged only seven minutes per game during the regular season and grabbed around three rebounds per appearance.
Against Western Carolina, the blowout allowed Gardner to give Wright a few more minutes (10 total) and she made the most of it.
She was able to grab seven rebounds in that full quarter of work. She was just three off her career high of 10 that she had earlier this season against Chattanooga where she also logged a career high in minutes with 18.
The team has been struggling to rebound effectively heading into the tournament said senior forward Amanda Thompson, who grabbed a team-high 17 rebounds.
With Wright asserting herself as a potential key rebounder for the Bears, she could see more minutes going forward to help with one of Mercer’s few weaknesses in the court.
Blowout wins like these are important for Gardner to get minutes for players who will have to take on a bigger role next season with the five seniors graduating and Shannon Titus being the lone starter set to return.
Blowout wins like these give Gardner a chance to give minutes to players who must take on a bigger role next season after five seniors graduate. Shannon Titus will be the lone returner.