Mason Wittner, Staff Writer
Mercer won the opening tip, scored the first points and never looked back.
The Bears (8-8) lead for the entirety of the game Tuesday night and handed Kennesaw State’s women’s basketball team their fourth loss of the season. It was the first home loss for the Lady Owls (11-4) in seven games. Despite pulling within three points with 2:47 remaining, KSU fell 54-44.
KSU was led offensively by Jasmine McAllister who accounted for 14 points and nine boards.
“She had a steady game,” said KSU head coach Nitra Perry. “She had a very, very tough defensive assignment in Robinson who had 12 offensive boards. So, when you look at it, for her to put out 14 points and still have to go up against somebody that’s that good of an athlete, I was proud of her today.”
The Bears used an 8-0 run early on in the first half to give themselves a 17-8 cushion with 13:28 to play.
After trailing by 11, the largest deficit of the game for either team, KSU managed to close the half out on a run of their own, outscoring Mercer 8-2. The Owls found themselves down 27-22 at the half.
The second half did not consist of large runs for either squad, but rather KSU and Mercer continued to match blows.
The Owls attempted to scratch away at Mercer’s lead in any way they could, but failed to get themselves over the hump. KSU kept their deficit within single digits until the final Mercer free throw with 0:17 left to play.
The closest deficit of the second half came after a McAllister bucket that brought the score to 40-39 with 6:41 remaining. However, as was the story for the entirety of the night, the defense was unable to complement the scoring and Mercer extended their lead yet again.
The Owls trailed 47-44 when Kristina Wells drove in the lane and missed a layup with 2:18 left in the half that led to a loss of momentum as Mercer closed the game out on a 7-0 run.
“It was one of those days,” said Perry. “Kristina Wells gets those left hand layups. She makes them; I want to say, 9 out of 10 times. It was just one of those games, and nobody was trailing [her].”
The Owls have nearly doubled their win total of six from last season before A-Sun Conference play has begun.
“I’m excited,” said Perry. “I think it says a lot about the future of the program. The kids that we’re getting that believe in the vision of our staff and the university. We’re just trying to get better and we don’t really look at the standings, right now. But, it’s great to already have 11 wins if we’ve won however many over the last two years. We have some hard workers and kids that are tough.”
The Lady Owls will begin A-Sun conference play on Saturday Jan. 10 as they travel to Spartanburg, South Carolina to take on USC Upstate. Their first home conference game is Wednesday Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. against Northern Kentucky.
