Sunday, February 04, 2007

DeLAND, Fla. – After trailing by as many as 13 points in the second half, the Mercer women’s basketball team rallied for a 66-56 win over Atlantic Sun rival Stetson after shooting 66.7 percent from the floor in the second half.

The teams swapped points early in the game before Stetson (4-17, 4-6 A-Sun) broke an 18-18 tie with an 11-1 run to close the first half. The Hatters entered the break with a 29-19 lead as Kellie Olson sparked the Stetson offense, connecting on a pair of three points en route to 10 first-half points.

Mercer (2-19, 1-9 A-Sun) slipped further behind early in the second stanza, trailing by 13 at the 18:33 mark. However, the Bears methodically closed the gap, getting it down to one at the 12:28 mark on a trey from Megan delaRosa. After a Stetson turnover, Mercer had a chance to take the lead but its offense stalled. The Hatters took advantage, going on a 6-0 spurt before TaShera Lewis snapped the Bear drought with a jumper at the 7:10 mark.

Nicole Leonard gave the Bears the lead with a traditional 3-point play at the 5:36 mark, Mercer’s first advantage since the six-minute mark of the first half. Rhonda Owens pushed the Mercer lead to double digits on a pair of free throws with 1:10 remaining in the game.

Kim Manning gave Stetson hope, hitting a 3-pointer with 44 seconds remaining to trim the lead to eight. However, Chelsea Seabron hit a pair of free throws with 37 seconds remaining to ice the game. Janene Maclin led all players with 14 points while grabbing seven rebounds for Stetson. Olson finished with 13 points, but was held to three in the second half.

“This is a good win for us,” said interim head coach Sybil Blalock, about her team snapping its 16-game losing streak. “Once we took the lead, the players felt like if we had come this far that we were not going to give up.”

Owens and Seabron each posted double-doubles. Owens finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds while Seabron added 12 points and 10 boards. Lewis also added 10 points while Sally Skeldon recorded a career-high 12 assists.

The Bears return to action Thursday, Feb. 8, against A-Sun leader Belmont. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. at the University Center.