Nashville, Tenn. ? The fifth-seeded Stetson women's basketball team (8-22) ended its season Thursday in the Atlantic Sun tournament quarterfinals with an 84-51 loss to fourth-seeded Mercer at Lipscomb University's Allen Arena. The loss was Stetson's eighth in a row and 13th in its last 14 games.
Ahead by 17 at halftime, Mercer continued to push the tempo for many easy baskets in transition, shooting 57.1 percent from the floor in the game and coasting away to win by 33. No Hatter scored in double figures for the first time this year. Freshman guard Lyllique Roman (Poinciana, Fla.) led the team with nine points, tying her career high; senior forward Shayna Swinson (Atlanta, Ga.) did likewise in her final career contest, scoring eight points. Sophomore guard Tierra Brown (Orlando, Fla.) also had eight points.
Senior point guard Sharnesha Smith tallied five points, three rebounds, six assists and a blocked shot in her final career game for the Hatters. Smith concludes her four-year career with 1,042 points and 407 assists as only the third player in school history ever to score 1,000 points and hand out 400 assists.
Four Bears scored in double figures, led by Kourtney Carter's 16 points on perfect eight of eight shooting. Courtney Ford scored 14 points, Latoya Jackson had 12 and Cristin Seymour contributed 10.
The Hatters raced out to a 10-0 lead to start the game, holding Mercer off the scoreboard for the first five minutes, but a 14-0 run led by a pair of Latoya Jackson three-pointers soon erased that early advantage and Stetson never led again.
Mercer never let up, rebounding every Stetson miss and shooting 50 percent in the first half en route to a 42-25 halftime lead. Carter scored a game-high 12 points in the first half while Jackson had 11 and Ford scored 10. Roman (Poinciana, Fla.) scored five to lead the Hatters.
In the upcoming Year 2 of the Lynn Bria Era, Stetson will return three starters from this year's squad including Brown, sophomore forward Jessica Conner (Cocoa, Fla.) and junior forward Ashli Jackson (Opelika, Ala.) At least six extremely talented newcomers are on their way as well, including transfers Natasha Graboski (6'3 center, Cincinnati/Upper Sandusky, Ohio), Daphnee Frieson (6'4 center, Ole Miss/Mobile, Ala.) and Kerri Simpson (5'9 guard, Florida/Charleston, Tenn.) along with incoming freshmen Ashley Dennis, Janelle Mills and Simone Taylor.
