Macon, Ga. ? Freshman guard Kelly Ellison (Columbus, Ga.) scored a career-high 14 points to lead all scorers in the game, but it wasn't enough as the Stetson women's basketball team (7-10, 4-4 Atlantic Sun) dropped a 58-44 decision at longtime league rival Mercer (8-8, 4-3 A-Sun) on Saturday at the University Center. Poor shooting cost the Hatters dearly in the contest as Stetson, which never led in the ballgame, went just 16-56 (.286) from the floor and 5-23 (.217) from three-point land.
Just as it did Thursday at Kennesaw State, Stetson fell behind 11-0 for the second game in a row and was not able to recover this time. An Ellison layup finally got the Hatters on the scoreboard with 10:31 remaining in the first half. Stetson was able to get as close as six before Mercer extended the lead to 15 with 1:34 left before halftime. Junior forward Ashli Jackson (Opelika, Ala.) stroked a three-pointer with three seconds left that cut the halftime margin to 25-15.
A quick 6-0 burst for the Bears out of the locker room proved fatal to any thoughts of a Stetson comeback; the Hatters never drew closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
Ellison added a career-high three assists along with two steals as she played 35 minutes today after logging 37 minutes two nights ago at Kennesaw State. Jackson hit two three-pointers and finished with 10 points while senior forward Shayna Swinson (Atlanta, Ga.) pulled down a team-leading eight rebounds, a season high for her. Senior point guard Sharnesha Smith (Kingsland, Ga.) notched five points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals, inching closer to the 1,000-point and 400-assist milestones. She heads home from the Peach State with 946 career points and 363 assists.
Atlantic Sun Conference leading scorer Dominique Chism tallied 12 points, eight rebounds, two assists, three steals and a block for Mercer while Latoya Jackson and Megan Lewis scored 10 points apiece. Jackson handed out a game-high four assists and Cristin Seymour led all players in the game with 10 rebounds.
Stetson returns home to the Edmunds Center to take on A-Sun foe North Florida at 9 p.m. Thursday. The game will be televised on Comcast Sports Southeast (CSS) around the southeastern United States; it can be seen live locally in Central Florida on Bright House Sports Network Channel 47. Hatter Vision and Bill Topping's commentary are also available at www.GoHatters.com, the official online home of Stetson Athletics.
