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Audrey Meyers vs Mercer - INSIDE
Catamount Athletics Creative Media
76
Winner Mercer Mercer 11-15,5-5 SoCon
62
Western Caro. WCU 6-19,1-9 SoCon
Winner
Mercer Mercer
11-15,5-5 SoCon
76
Final
62
Western Caro. WCU
6-19,1-9 SoCon
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Mercer Mercer 21 16 22 17 76
Western Caro. WCU 13 17 19 13 62

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | Greg Hartlage, Director of Media Relations

Four Players Post Double Figures in Home Loss to Mercer

CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Senior Audrey Meyers and freshman Tyja Beans both posted individual career highs on Thursday night, but Western Carolina suffered a 76-62 defeat on Thursday night at the hands of Mercer from Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center. Meyers tallied a team-high 15 points, while Beans added 14 points in the loss. 

Meyers posted a career night on 5-of-7 field goals and made all five free throws. She also pulled down a team-high six rebounds and recorded a pair of steals. Beans went 6-of-9 from the floor while making both free throw attempts.

Lonasia Brewer totaled her ninth double-figure scoring performance of the season with 12 points while adding four rebounds and three assists. Zanoria Cruz rounded out the double-figure scoring on Thursday with 10 points, doing most of her work at the line going 6-of-6. Jada Burton increased her team-high in the assist column with a team-best five helpers to reach 96 assists for the Spartanburg, S.C. native. 

Summah Evans paced the Bears as one of four in double figures with 19 points on 8-of-16 shooting while also tallying five rebounds. Mackenzie Johnson and Deja Williams both finished with 13 points as Johnson was 5-of-11 from the field with three rebounds and two assists, while Williams connected on three from beyond the arc and led the guests with three steals. 

Stacie Jones rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points, finishing 5-of-9 from the field. Ciante Downs led Mercer with seven rebounds while also adding seven points. 

Spurred by four early points from Beans, Western Carolina (6-19, 1-9 SoCon) opened the game on an 8-4 run to gain the early advantage on Mercer. The Bears answered with eight unanswered to gain a slight lead at the halfway point of the quarter. Tyra Robinson used a layup to thwart the run on the guests before Mercer closed on a 9-3 run to take the 21-13 lead after the opening 10 minutes.

The two teams traded points in the opening minutes of the second quarter with the Bears able to extend the lead to 10, 27-17, before Cruz scored four unanswered to make it 27-21 with 5:44 to play in the half. Mercer used a 6-2 burst to again extend the lead to double digits at 33-23 in the later stages of the frame. The final 11 points of the half were scored at the charity stripe with WCU using a 7-4 run to trail 37-30 at the half. 

After halftime, WCU opened with the first four points to cut into the Mercer advantage before seven straight points by the visitors extended the score to 44-34 Mercer with 7:14 to play in the third. The Catamounts answered with an 8-0 burst led by Cruz with four points to slice the deficit to two, 44-42.

However, Mercer responded with a 13-4 run to push the lead back to double figures at 57-46, and after a three-point play from Meyers, the Bears added the last points of the quarter to lead 59-49 after 30 minutes. 
Mercer (11-15, 5-5 SoCon) opened the fourth quarter on a 10-4 run to take its largest lead of the night at 69-53 with 4:25 to play. The Catamounts scored six of the next eight points to cut the deficit to 12, 71-59, but couldn't get it any closer as Mercer earned the 76-62 victory. 

Both teams shot the ball well on Thursday as the Catamounts posted a 47.8% (22-of-46) while the Bears went 50% (27-of-54). The guests connected on five threes in 10 attempts, while WCU was held without a 3-pointer on just four tries. Mercer made all 17 of its free throws and the Catamounts made 18-of-22 (81.8%) at the foul line. The Bears were effective on the glass, outrebounding the Catamounts by 11, 33-22, with Mercer pulling down 10 offensive boards, turning them into 16 second-chance points.

The guests took advantage of the Western Carolina turnovers, scoring 22 points off 16 giveaways from the Catamounts. WCU won the paint battle by eight, 36-28, and a 10-4 edge in fastbreak points. The hosts held a three-point edge in bench scoring at 17-14, led by 10 from Cruz. 

The Catamounts wrap up the home portion of their schedule on Saturday in the back end of a hoops doubleheader, hosting Samford at 7 p.m. on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center. Saturday's women's game is a "Shoot for the Cure – Pink Out." The team is selling special "Shoot for the Cure" T-shirts that are black and pink to accommodate both weekend promotions including the "Beat the Bucs – Black Out Ramsey" for the men's game against ETSU at 4 p.m. Contact women's basketball assistant coach Shayna Gore (sgore@wcu.edu) for more information or to purchase a shirt with all proceeds to benefit the Great Smokies Health Foundation.

Western Carolina will honor its senior team members in a special pregame ceremony with fans encouraged to stick around after the conclusion of the men's game.

Both games will be shown on ESPN+ with live stats on CatamountSports.com and live audio on the Catamount Sports Network. 

Keep track of everything related to Catamount women's basketball and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@catamounts, Catamountwbb). 
 
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