Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Belmont women's basketball team (2-4, 0-1 A-Sun) was unable to fend off visiting Mercer (1-5, 1-0 A-Sun) in its Atlantic Sun home opener on Thursday night at the Curb Event Center and was held off down the stretch, 69-56.
An offensive explosion by junior Cacy Burtnett (Cleveland, Tenn.) opened the contest for Belmont. She knocked down back-to-back three pointers to put the Bruins on top, 8-5, by the 16:36 mark. Three minutes later, BU had expanded its lead to six, 13-7, with points coming from junior Tristan Daniel (Waynesboro, Tenn.). Mercer began to work its way back and used a 7-2 run to knot the score at 18 with just over seven minutes left in the first stanza.
The Bruins slipped into a scoring drought that lasted over four and a half minutes but the Bears were only able to pull away by two over the same stretch. A tip-in by sophomore Alyssa Visbeen (Franklin, Tenn.) forced another tie at 20 with 3:54 on the clock. The Bears found a way to knock down only their second trey of the half to go up, 23-20, but Daniel drained a pair at the charity stripe to cut the advantage to one with three minutes left before the teams headed into the locker rooms. Each team struggled to maintain possession, looking to hold on for the
After the break, Mercer jumped out the gate with a 12-3 run to pull ahead, 35-28, three minutes into the second half. The Bruin bench burned a timeout to regroup and came out of the brief break ready to regain ground. Burtnett answered the call and drove through the paint to find the bottom of the net and cut into the Mercer lead and a put back by Visbeen cut the advantage to five, 37-32, with 15:30 on the clock. However, the Bears were able to string together baskets to take its first double digit lead of the game, 42-32, just two minutes later. BU began to surge over the next four minutes, sparked by a layup and a triple, the first since her freshman year, from senior Whitney Seals (Raceland, Ky.). The Bears went icy from the floor for three minutes and free throws from Daniel and another trey from Burtnett moved BU to within four, 46-42, with only 8:18 remaining in regulation.
Belmont stayed hot on Mercer's heels as the clock wound down and by the 5:30 mark, two more free-throws by Daniel made it a one-point game, 47-46. Mercer pulled away again but back-to-back three pointers from Burtnett and senior Shaunda Strayhorn (Dyersburg, Tenn.) moved the Bruins to within two, 56-54, with 2:19 left on the clock. The Bruins used the momentum shift to their advantage, trapping Briana Williams in the left corner and forcing her to burn a timeout to not lose possession. Unfortunately, it would be as close as BU would come as the Bears used being in the double bonus to their advantage in the final 90 seconds. Nash would hit a pair at the stripe with 53 ticks remaining but it would be too little too late as Mercer went on to take the contest, 69-56. It would be the first time the Bears defeated the Bruins on their home court since the programs began meeting regularly in the 2001-02 campaign.
Mercer shot 35.1 percent from the floor, 35 percent from behind the three-point arc and 78.6 percent from the free-throw line. The Bears held the advantage in blocks, 4-2, and steals, 12-5.
MU's leading scorer was Williams, who notched 32 points. Kendra Grant also reached double digits, adding 11 in the effort.
Belmont shot 33.9 percent from the floor, 45 percent from three-point range, and 52.9 percent from the charity stripe. Belmont held the advantage in rebounds, 43-39, and assists, 16-14.
BU was led in scoring by Burtnett's career-high 21 points. Daniel added nine and Seals matched her career-high of seven points. Seals also led the Bruins in rebounds, pulling down a career-high eight. Nash finished with a career-high six assists in the effort.
Belmont returns to action on Tuesday December 7 at the Curb Event Center. The Bruins host crosstown rival Tennessee State beginning at 5 p.m. The contest can be heard live via the internet on the Bruins Sports Network and live stats will be available. The game can also be seen live on ASun.TV.
