Bench play, strong second half lift Mercer women

The Mercer Bears outscored North Florida 24-6 in the third quarter to break open a close game, and cruised home for a 68-54 win in non-conference women's basketball action on Saturday.

Mary Persons product KeKe Calloway came off the bench to score 17 points, while Linnea Rosendal added 14. Alex Williams came off the bench to grab career high 14 rebounds, as the Bears dominated the offensive boards by a 26-5 margin.

Mercer led 16-14 after a quarter against the Ospreys, who came into the game with a 4-10 record. The Bears increased that lead by only two at 32-28 at the half, thanks mainly to dreadful shooting.

The Bears shot only 28.6 percent in the half, but still led thanks to Calloway's 10 points.

Things changed quickly in the third quarter. The Bears scored 10 of the first 13 points and grabbed a double-digit lead for the first time at 42-31 on a 3-pointer by Rosendal.

They continued to dominate, outscoring North Florida 14-3 for the remainder of the quarter to grab a 56-34 lead.

Despite the efforts of Claire Ioannidis, who scored 23 points in the game, the Ospreys never got closer after that than than the final margin of 14.

THREE WHO MATTERED

Williams: The 5-foot-9 sophomore, who was playing in only her sixth game since returning from injury, scored six points and grabbed 14 rebounds in the game in only 14 minutes of action. Nine of those rebounds were offensive rebounds.

Calloway: With Mercer in foul trouble in the first half, Calloway got added minutes and came through with a 17-point game. She had three 3-pointers.

Kahlia Lawrence: The Bears' leading scorer struggled offensively, hitting only 4-of-17 shots, but she did have seven rebounds and five assists.

Sydni Means: The Bears' point guard was in foul trouble in the first half, but had five assists in the second half and seven for the game.

TURNING POINT

The Bears shot 50 percent in the third quarter and held North Florida to only two field goals in the quarter to blow open a game that was close at the half.

OBSERVATION

The Mercer bench came up big, scoring 29 points and grabbing 22 rebounds.

THEY SAID IT

Williams on a career-high 14-rebound game: "It feels amazing. I just tried to keep my eye on the ball when it went up in the air, and then work hard to get to the ball. I don't think I am all the way healthy yet, but I am getting closer every game."

Williams on coming off the bench: "I actually like it a lot and I try to bring energy when I come in. I just really try to add to what the starters have done and give them a break when they need it."

Head coach Susie Gardner on the pivotal third quarter: "I think it was a four-point game at the half and we had shot the ball horribly, but I was real pleased the way we got things going in the third quarter, and after that, we looked like ourselves. I don't think we played poorly in the first half; we just couldn't make any shots."

Gardner on the performance of the bench: "We got in foul trouble in the first half, so we were forced to play the bench a little more than we usually do, but it's important to get that kind of games from them because some games we have got very little from a scoring standpoint from them. It's just important that we continue growing and maturing as a basketball team.

UP NEXT

Mercer (9-5) travels to Florida A&M on Monday.

This story was originally published January 2, 2016 at 10:02 PM with the headline "Bench play, strong second half lift Mercer women ."