Macon, Ga. – Western Carolina women's basketball closed out its first SoCon road swing on Saturday, falling to Mercer 78-44 at Hawkins Arena. Lonasia Brewer and Tyja Beans both finished with 10 points apiece to lead the way for WCU.
" We really struggled stringing positive and productive possessions together the entire afternoon. Our efforts on the defensive glass haunted us all day, as well as the ability to get anything going consistently scoring wise early," commented head coach Kiley Hill. "Each time we did something well, we would shoot ourselves in the foot the next defensive or offensive possession. It was not the end result of the road trip we wanted but more opportunities ahead to get back on track."
Beans matched her career-high with 10 points as she connected on 4-6 field goals while adding a pair at the free throw line. Saturday marked the third time this season that the Daytona Beach, Fla. native has scored 10 points in a game. Brewer went 5-of-10 from the field while leading the team with six rebounds and three assists.
Deja Williams led Mercer on the offensive end with 12 points as she was one of four Bears to reach double figures. Williams connected on four threes while also tallying four steals and three assists. Aspen Johnson totaled 11 points and eight rebounds off the bench as both Summah Evans and Briana Peguero finished with 10 points. Ciante Downs led the Bears with 10 rebounds and added three steals to her performance.
Mercer (8-12, 2-2 SoCon) claimed the early edge on Saturday with an opening possession basket before back-to-back layups from Lonasia Brewer and Audrey Meyers gave the Catamounts a 4-2 edge in the opening minutes.
The Bears responded quickly, using a 9-2 run to take the 11-6 lead with 3:58 to go as the game reached the opening media break. The hosts came out of the media timeout fast, using an 11-0 run to stretch the lead to 14, 20-6 with 1:28 to play, forcing a Catamounts timeout. The two teams traded baskets in the waning minutes, with Mercer leading 23-8 after one.
The Bears began the second quarter on a 7-1 burst to stretch the lead to 21, 30-9 at the halfway point of the quarter. WCU pushed back with consecutive layups before seven in a row from Mercer stretched it to a 37-13 lead. Brewer connected on a pair of jumpers inside the final minute, resulting in a 37-17 score at the break.
The two teams traded early blows in the second half as the two matched baskets with one another over the first seven minutes leading to a 46-25 advantage for the home squad. Mercer was able to stretch the lead to 24, 49-25, before the Catamounts closed the quarter on a 6-2 run to make it 51-31 after 30 minutes in Macon.
Western Carolina (5-14, 0-4 SoCon) opened the scoring quickly in the fourth before an 8-2 Bears run stretched it to a 59-35 lead with 8:20 to play. WCU answered with the next 10 points to cut into the Bears lead but could not get any closer as Mercer closed the game on a 15-3 run to claim the 78-44 victory in SoCon action.
Mercer posted a 40% (28-of-70) shooting performance as the Bears held WCU to 28.8% (15-of-52) on Saturday. The hosts were strong from deep connecting on seven triples compared to one for the Catamounts. Both teams had a good day at the free throw line as Western Carolina went 13-of-17 and Mercer was 15-of-20 at the stripe. The Bears controlled the glass by 23, 53-30, including a 27-14 edge in offensive rebounding.
The Bears forced 24 turnovers, which they turned into 31 points compared to the Catamounts scoring nine points off of 16 Mercer giveaways. Mercer controlled paint scoring 34-16 and bench scoring as they had a 33-20 advantage in the victory.
The Catamounts return home for the first of three straight at home to close out the first half of SoCon play. WCU hosts mountain-rival ETSU on Thursday, Jan. 25, at 7 p.m. to continue the "Beat the Bucs" series. At the request of WCU students, every home matchup against ETSU in the "Beat the Bucs" series will be a Black Out with fans encouraged to wear their black WCU gear to the game – and where applicable, the WCU team will wear their black Nike uniforms.
The matchup with the Bucs will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats and live audio provided by the Catamount Sports Network available on CatamountSports.com.
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