Box Score

GEORGIA SOUTHERN 61, MERCER 54 GEORGIA SOUTHERN (2-6) KNIGHT, Anna Claire 6-14 6-9 18; DUBOSE, MiMi 4-11 7-11 18; DOWLING, Lacie 4-6 3-4 12; JONES, Briana 3-12 1-2 7; SPENCER, Danielle 2-8 0-0 4; KIRKLAND, Sierra 1-1 0-0 2; MCGOWAN, Angel 0-3 0-0 0; MARCUS, Jessica 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-55 17-26 61. MERCER (4-4) BRIDGES, Precious 7-24 1-2 15; ROBINSON, Teanna 6-9 2-4 14; WILLIAMS, Alicia 4-11 2-4 10; GRANT, Kendra 4-18 0-0 10; WILLIAMS, Briana 1-5 0-3 2; BOYKIN, Sharnea 1-4 0-0 2; ALEMANN, Kate 0-5 1-3 1; ANDERSON, Ana 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-77 6-16 54. Georgia Southern.............. 31 30 - 61 Mercer........................ 23 31 - 54

MACON, Ga. – Anna Claire Knight and MiMi DuBose each scored 18 points, and Georgia Southern held Mercer to 30 percent shooting from the floor to earn a 61-54 women's basketball victory over the Bears Wednesday night in Hawkins Arena.

Knight hit 6-of-14 from the field and 6-of-9 from the charity stripe for the Eagles (2-6), while DuBose knocked down 3-of-5 from 3-point range and 7-of-11 from the free-throw line. Lacie Dowling scored 12 points, and Briana Jones finished with seven points and eight rebounds. Danielle Spencer snared 12 rebounds and added four points.

Precious Bridges, who entered the game averaging 18 points, scored 15 to lead the Bears (4-4) but went 7-of-24 from the floor. Teanna Robinson collected 14 points, 20 rebounds and seven blocked shots, while Alicia Williams and Kendra Grant each scored 10.

The Eagles held the Bears to 23-of-77 from the field and 2-of-11 from 3-point range. Mercer also shot 6-of-16 at the foul line.

"We talked a lot after our last game about finishing our defense and the importance of taking care of all the details to get a stop," said Georgia Southern coach Chris Vozab. "We worked on it in practice the last two days, and we responded and took care of those things  tonight. We dug deep and were rewarded with a gutsy road win against a very good team."

Georgia Southern used a 12-2 run  to end the first half and scored the first nine points of the second frame to open a 17-point lead. DuBose and Knight each scored six points during the stretch, and Dowling added five.

The margin grew to 19 points at 49-30 when DuBose hit a triple from the wing with 9:48 left. Mercer responded by outscoring the Eagles 16-4 over the next 8:03, and a Bridges jumper trimmed the lead to 53-46 with 1:45 to play.

The teams traded points for a few possessions, and a jumper by Sharnea Boykin made the score 56-50 with 38 seconds left. The Bears fouled Knight, who made both free throws, and DuBose stole a Boykin pass on the next Mercer possession and went the distance for a layup with 18 seconds left to give the Eagles a 10-point cushion.

"There were moments there when they made their run where I thought we tightened up a little bit, but the kids felt that too and didn't allow it to happen," said Vozab. "They stayed poised, composed and aggressive and were able to get to the free-throw line late. That allowed us to get points and set our defense."

Mercer scored the first six points of the game with Robinson netting consecutive layups, but the Eagles responded by scoring the next 11 as Dowling and DuBose hit triples and Jones netted four points. The Eagles trailed 21-19 late in the first half but capped the frame with a 12-2 run to take a 31-23 lead into the break.

The Eagles play host to Furman in their Southern Conference opener Saturday, Dec. 7. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m., and it's a GATA Game, so all student-athletes will be in attendance.

Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics and twitter.com/GSAthletics, and its "Eagles GATA" mobile app for Android and iOS.