Box Score
Macon, Ga. – Freshman Hannah Hank turned in a career high 15 points and Amari Robinson added Clemson downed Mercer, 65-61, on Sunday afternoon inside Hawkins Arena in Macon, Ga. The win moves the Tigers to 4-7 on the year, while the loss drops the Bears to 3-7.
Hank’s 15 points led the Tigers in scoring, while Amari Robinson added 12 and a team-high 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the year. Kobi Thornton finished with 11 and nine rebounds and Nique Cherry turned in eight points and two rebounds in her Clemson debut. Clemson shot .434 (23-53) from the floor and made five free throws down the stretch to put the game away.
Defensively, Clemson held Mercer to .373 shooting (25-67) and 6-26 from three (.231). The Tigers out-rebounded the Bears 42-33 and forced 14 turnovers.
Clemson held Mercer off the board for the first 6:22 of the game, building a 12-0 lead. The Bears cut the lead to three, but the Tigers closed out the first quarter with a 15-9 advantage. The Bears outscored the Tigers 10-5 to open the second quarter, cutting the Clemson lead to one at the media timeout. Mercer grabbed its first lead of the game at 21-20, then Clemson used an 8-0 run to push the lead back to seven at 30-23, then took a 33-28 lead into halftime.
The Bears cut the lead to two early in the third, but the Tigers quickly put together a 6-0 run to push it back to eight at the third quarter media timeout. Clemson held Mercer off the board for 2:28 while pushing the lead to 12, then took a 10-point lead into the game’s final 10 minutes. Clemson added to its lead to start the fourth, forcing a Mercer timeout trailing 56-41. The Bears continued to cut into the Tiger lead, but Clemson held on thanks to key free throws from Robinson, for the 65-61 win.
Clemson is back in action on Friday afternoon, welcoming North Carolina A&T to Littlejohn for a 2:00 p.m. tipoff.
