Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Florida Atlantic
3-6
Mercer
6-3
Owls Women's Basketball Falls to Mercer 74-68
12/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 18, 2008
Mercer's Dominique Chism got a lay-up with the game tied with 52 seconds to go to give the Bears a 74-68 win over the Florida Atlantic University women's basketball team in the first game of the Sunshine Shootout in the Bahamas on Thursday.
FAU got off to a promising start in the second half after leading 36-35 at halftime. A baseline jumper by Andrea Taylor gave the Owls their biggest lead at 40-35. Mercer would then go on a 12-3 run led by Chism, who scored 15 of her game-high 20 points in the second half. Mercer would build the lead back to nine points with under 14 minutes to go before FAU cut into the lead, getting the game within two points on two separate occasions on made baskets by Brittany Bowe, who led the Owls with 16. With under four minutes to go, down by one, Carla Stubbs hit a jumper in the paint to give FAU their latest lead at 66-65. After Mercer tied the game with a free-throw, Chism sank the fateful lay-up to put the Bears ahead to stay. The Owls had two chances to re-tie the game or take the lead, but Carla Stubbs missed a three-pointer that would've given the Owls the lead, and after Jaimie Givens missed a jumper, Mercer secured the rebound and hit their last six free-throws down the stretch.
Chism hit eight-of-14 shots from the field to lead the Bears (6-3) with 20 points. Courtney Ford added 19 points and led Mercer with nine rebounds as the Bears shot 48 percent from the field (12-25) in the second half.
Three players scored double-digits for FAU (3-6) led by Bowe's season-high 16. Carla Stubbs added 11 points to get her seventh-straight double-digit scoring output. Jessica Knurick had her first career double-double, scoring 10 points and securing 13 rebounds. FAU as a team out rebounded Mercer 39-34, however, they only made seven-of-12 foul shots in the second half and committed 18 turnovers.
FAU returns to action at the Sunshine Shootout on Saturday as they face East Carolina at 4 p.m. in Nassau, Bahamas.
