Box Score MACON, Ga. – The Belmont women's basketball team made history on Thursday night on the first night of its final road swing of the season. A 67-62 overtime win at Mercer gave the program its 800th win, making Belmont only the 14th team in nation to accomplish the feat.
The opening minutes saw both teams struggle offensively with Belmont unable to find the bottom of the net until the 16:50 mark with a triple from the top of the key from sophomore Alyssa Visbeen (Franklin, Tenn.). Mercer briefly pulled away by five, 10-5, before junior Haley Nelson (Scottsboro, Ala.) hit a jumper in the paint. Redshirt freshman Julianne Downs (Franklin, Tenn.) followed with a layup and a steal for her own fast break layup on the next possession, knotting the score at 11.
The Bears were able to rebuild another five-point lead, 16-11, by the 9:36 mark but the Bruins kept working to gain ground. Sophomore Kristin Nash (Stone Mountain, Ga.) swished a three pointer and Visbeen knocked down a pair at the charity stripe to knot the contest at 16, barely two minutes later. Mercer used another spurt to take its largest lead of the half, 27-20, with just over four minutes remaining in the half but BU got hot once again, taking advantage of an icy spell by the Bears. Nelson drove to the basket three consecutive trips before Nash drained both attempts at the line with 90 seconds left before the teams headed to the locker rooms. Kortney Carter would push for a layup but freshman Molly Ernst (Louisville, Ky.) would net the final shot of the stanza with a triple from the right side to send the teams into the break with MU ahead by one, 29-28.
After the break, Mercer opened with back-to-back layups before Nelson netted a jumper from the free-throw line and senior Shaunda Strayhorn (Dyersburg, Tenn.) notched her first two points of the night from the charity stripe. The Bruins slipped into a scoring drought that lasted over four minutes but the Bears could only add five over the span due to a strong defensive effort.
Slowly but surely, Belmont worked to close the gap and by the 8:46 mark, a jumper from Nelson forced the third tie of the contest, at 40. Over the next four minutes, the Bruins dug in their heels and took control of the game to build their largest lead of the contest, 50-42, thanks to baskets from junior Cacy Burtnett (Cleveland, Tenn.), Nelson and senior Tereva Moore (Memphis, Tenn.) and a MU scoring drought that lasted more than three minutes. Briana Williams put her team on her back and drained six consecutive points to pull Mercer to within one, 52-51. A pair at the line from Nash expanded BU's lead to three but Williams buried her third three pointer of the game to knot the score at 54 with 56.8 ticks left in regulation. Nelson drove and netted a jumper 20 seconds later to put Belmont on top, 56-54, but Sharmesia Smith hit one of her own on the next possession to tie the score at 56. Neither team could find the bottom of the net in the waning seconds despite several attempts. As time expired, a heave from behind the midcourt line by Williams rolled off the back off the rim as the buzzer sounded to send the game to overtime, locked at 56.
In the extra period, Belmont found the bottom of the net first with a short jumper from Nelson but Williams answered with one of her own. She went on to add two at the free-throw line to knot the score at 60. With just over 90 seconds left, the teams began trading shots at the free-throw line after falling into the double bonus. Williams hit two more at the line to knot the score at 62 but Burtnett swished a jumper to put BU on top by one, 63-62, with 58 seconds remaining. The Bruins forced crucial turnovers combined with a strong defensive effort to keep the Bears away from the net. Forced to foul in the final 25 seconds, Mercer saw their chance to sweep this year's series fade away as Strayhorn and Nash notched all four attempts at the line. Mercer attempted another field goal but it ricocheted off the rim and the Bruins held the ball as time expired, winning the contest, 67-62.
Williams led Mercer with 21 points followed by Brittnee Hazel's 11.
Belmont shot 37.5 percent from the hardwood, 23.5 percent from behind the three-point arc and 87.5 percent from the charity stripe. The Bruins held the advantage in assists, 11-5, and steals, 15-9.
A trio of Bruins reached double digits, led by Nelson's 20 points. Nash added 11 and Strayhorn contributed 10 points. Nelson pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.
Belmont returns to action on Saturday at Kennesaw State for its final regular season game of the year. Tipoff is slated for 11 a.m. CT and the game can be seen live on ASun.TV. The contest can also be heard live via the internet on the Bruins Sports Network. Live stats and a Twitter feed (@BelmontWBB) will also be available.
