Wednesday, December 03, 2008

MACON, Ga. - Mercer held off a late rally from visiting USC Upstate to get its Atlantic Sun season off to a winning start on Wednesday night, knocking off the Spartans by a 79-75 scoreline. After using a second half spurt to jump out to a 15-point lead, the Bears saw their lead whittled down to just three before Nicole Leonard hit a key late free-throw to put the contest out of Upstate’s reach.

“You have got to give credit to Upstate,” Mercer head coach Janell Jones said afterward. “They just never went away. They shot the ball well tonight, and we didn’t do as good a job closing down their three-point shooters as we should have. But I am really proud of our young ladies tonight: they didn’t just fold when the pressure was on. We had a lot of girls who stepped up and made some key plays for us down the stretch.”

LaToya Jackson led the Bears in scoring for the third straight game, posting 19 points while hitting four of her six shots from three-point range. The Oklahoma City native was clinical at the charity stripe as well, sinking seven of her eight free throw attempts.

All told, Mercer (4-2, 1-0 A-Sun) would finish with four scorers in double figures for the second straight game. Dominique Chism posted 15 points on 7-of-13 shooting and five steals despite fouling out early in the second half. Natasha Doh (12) and Courtney Ford (11) would also break the ten-point barrier: the latter accomplishing the feat for the fifth consecutive game.

“Coach Jones said someone had to step up after we lost Dominique,” Ford said afterward, “and I think we all did.”

It was a cagey opening, as the two teams traded blows, trying to feel one another out. The sharpshooting Upstate team would hit two early shots from behind the arc, but Ford answered for Mercer with a coast-to-coast drive, drawing a defender before dishing off to Dominique Chism for an uncontested lay-in.

Chism looked sharp on the defensive end as well, recording a pair of early blocks against the Spartan frontcourt as the teams traded off 11 lead changes in the first half.