Mercer women's basketball team tops Georgia Southern

The Mercer women's basketball team opened the season with its third straight win, beating in-state foe Georgia Southern 62-50 on Friday. Each team got off to a slow start with Mercer leading 10-7 at the end of the first quarter. The Bears extended their lead in the second quarter, scoring 20 points and led 30-26.

Coming out of the half, the Bears struggled to get anything going as they fell behind 43-38, but a run late in the third quarter helped the Bears to regain the lead for good as they went up 47-45.

Mercer kept the momentum going into the fourth quarter as it opened on a 5-0 run and never looked back. The Bears pushed the lead to double digits after getting red hot in the fourth quarter anf finished the game on a 15-5 run.

THREE WHO MATTERED

Amanda Thompson: Thompson helped push the Bears to victory with eight second-half points, including a pair of deep 3-pointers. The freshman also chipped in three rebounds and one steal.

Kahlia Lawrence: Lawrence was named the Southern Conference Player of the Week and picked up right where she left off, scoring a game-high 16 points, including 10 in the second half when the Bears needed a their sophomore leader the most.

Linnea Rosendal: Rosendal's start to her college career has been strong. She continued that with 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including one 3-pointer. She added three rebounds and three assists.

OBSERVATIONS

3-point happy: The 3-pointers went flying all game for both teams. The Bears hit 33 percent of their 3s while Georgia Southern connected on only 30 percent.

Young team: Despite the Bears being young, they showed that they can fight back from being down late in games. They battled from being down to run away with the game. The effort was led by Thompson and Lawrence as they combined for 16 of the team's 32 points in the second half.

WORTH MENTIONING

Coming off the bench: Sydni Means got her first start of the season after coming off the bench in the first two games. Means played a solid all-around game with seven points, two blocks, four assists and one steal. She connected on all three of her shots from the field.

Down in the second half: The Bears trailed for the first time in the second half all season. They responded to the adversity to win by double digits.

THEY SAID IT

Lawrence on the second half: "I think in the second half, I just took the shots I was used to taken. In the first half, I took some all right shots, but I think I rushed them a little bit. The second half, I came out, and I knew I was going to have to give my team something,"

Lawrence on winningthe  streak: "Right now, it's just chemistry. Every day we get better, that's what we try to do. We are learning how each of us likes to play and what each of us likes to do,"

Head coach Susie Gardner on the win: "It was the first time all year we have been down in the second half. I asked our kids after the game what they thought went well, and Kahlia made a great point. She said, 'We handled adversity.' "

Gardner on Thompson: "Amanda is just solid. She will do whatever you ask her to do offensively or defensively. She is like a glue player, and that is one of the reasons we signed her because she doesn't do anything that jumps out at you that is outstanding, but she does everything to help her team win,"

Gardner on starting Means starting over Keke Calloway: "Sydni played well (Friday). Keke seems to be a little bit nervous right now, so we are trying to let her come off the bench. Maybe sit there and watch a little bit and maybe not feel the pressure of being the point guard when the game begins. Because that is a lot of pressure for a freshman. That's why we made that change, and I think it worked out pretty well,"

WHAT'S NEXT

The Bears take on Saint Louis at home at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

This story was originally published November 20, 2015 at 9:56 PM with the headline "Mercer women's basketball team tops Georgia Southern ."