Susie Gardner likes growth she has seen from Keke Calloway

Susie Gardner acknowledges that former Mary Persons star Keke Calloway still has some work to do on her defense.

But the Mercer women's head coach likes what she has seen from Calloway during her freshman season with the Bears.

Calloway had her ninth double-digit scoring game Thursday night in the Bears' win over Western Carolina and is averaging 7.4 points per game. Mercer hosts UNC Greensboro on Saturday.

"She has given us a boost," Gardner said. "She comes in and hits 3s and gets everybody excited. She has gotten a lot better this year."

Calloway can see the growth in her game, but she is more excited about the play of the team as a whole. Mercer has won 11 of its past 12 games and sits at 17-6 overall and 7-1 in Southern Conference play.

The Bears are tied with Samford for first place in the conference.

"It's very fun to see the fans get excited, and everybody's excited for the team, and we're excited for each other," Calloway said. "It's just wonderful. I couldn't be happier. We're winning, we're doing good, and I'm doing good, so it's been great.

"We just have to keep winning and continue to get better every day."

Gardner smiled when she talked about the needed growth from Calloway on defense, but there is no denying Calloway's talents on offense.

"Keke is natural scorer, she's a great scorer. She can shoot the 3. She can get to the rim," Gardner said. "Sometimes we put her in the position as a point guard, which I have to help her a little bit from that position. If there's one area she needs to improve upon, which most freshmen do, is her defense.

"KeKe is a pretty shy kid, and she kind of plays shy on the court. We need to get her a little bit more energy or angry. If she could play a little bit more angry, I think she would be outstanding."

This story was originally published February 5, 2016 at 4:59 PM with the headline "Susie Gardner likes growth she has seen from Keke Calloway ."