Macon, Ga. ? Freshman guard Tierra Brown (Orlando, Fla./First Academy) scored 18 points to lead four Hatters in double figures as the Stetson women's basketball team (6-19, 4-8 Atlantic Sun) rolled past host Mercer 77-65 Saturday afternoon. Brown also handed out a career-high seven assists as the Hatters reached a season scoring high for the second time in as many games against the Bears.
Ahead by 10 points at halftime after their most productive scoring half of the season (44 points), the Hatters watched Mercer whittle the lead down to four in the second period's opening minutes. Stetson soon stabilized, restoring a 52-43 advantage at the first media timeout. It was able to maintain that margin for the next five minutes, even building it slightly with six-for-six free throw shooting to 61-51 with 11:05 left. In fact, the Hatters made their first 11 free throw attempts of the game.
Stetson continued to attack the basket, getting ahead by as many as 15 points at 71-56 with approximately seven minutes left. Although the Bears went on a brief 5-0 run, the Hatters stopped the bleeding, restored the lead to 14 points and were never seriously threatened again on their way to their second straight victory.
Brown added six rebounds and two steals to go with her 18 points, which she achieved with the help of three-for-five three-point shooting. Junior guard Sharnesha Smith (Kingsland, Ga.) scored 16 points, dished out four assists, grabbed three steals and blocked a shot. Freshman guard Brittany Carannante (Clearwater, Fla./Clearwater HS) scored 12 points with two steals and a block while junior center Ayesha Barkley (East Orange, N.J.) scored 10 points, pulled down five boards and blocked two shots.
Stetson also beat Mercer 74-70 at the Edmunds Center on January 19, completing its first sweep of the Bears since 2003-04 and its first sweep of any A-Sun foe since beating Kennesaw State twice in 2005-06. The Hatters banged home 10 three-pointers for the first time since Dec. 16, 2006 in a home loss to Florida A&M. Stetson took excellent care of the basketball, committing a season-low six turnovers while forcing 17 Bear miscues.
LaToya Jackson led all scorers with 25 points for Mercer, adding a team-high six assists along with four rebounds. TaShera Lewis tallied 12 points and eight rebounds while Kourtney Carter and Cristin Seymour pulled down seven rebounds apiece. The Bears out-rebounded the Hatters 42-29.
In a manner unusual to most low-scoring Stetson games, both teams came out firing as the score was tied 12-12 at the first media timeout. The relatively torrid back-and-forth pace continued for the next eight minutes until the Hatters were finally able to take a five-point lead. Smith stroked her second three-pointer of the half to put Stetson up 31-26 with 7:57 left before halftime.
That lead soon disappeared, however, as a LaToya Jackson three-pointer tied the score at 33 less than 90 seconds later. The Hatters got right back on the scoring wagon, going on an 11-1 run to close out the half and heading to the locker room ahead 44-34. The 44 points were the most Stetson has scored in any half this season.
Smith got hot late to finish the first half with a game-high 14 points, going over the 700-point plateau for her career in the process. Brown added 13 on the strength of three trifectas while sophomore forward Ashli Jackson (Opelika, Ala.) had six (she would finish with nine in the game). LaToya Jackson paced Mercer with 12 points while Lewis and Seymour scored six each. Brown grabbed four rebounds for the Hatters and Smith dished out four assists. Carter led the Bears on the boards with five. Stetson shot 52.9 percent (18-34) from the floor.
Stetson plays its final regular season road game Monday night at Kennesaw State and aims for its third straight win in the process. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. as Bill Topping calls all the action on the official online home of Stetson Athletics, www.gohatters.com.
