SOCON TOURNAMENT BRACKET

MACON, Ga.— The Samford women's basketball team built a 17-point second-half lead, but couldn't hold it as the Bulldogs dropped a 70-65 decision at Mercer in their final regular-season game Saturday afternoon at Hawkins Arena.

"This was a heart-breaking loss," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "I thought we played well enough, we were tough enough and our preparation was really good. Mercer made some tough shots. We just couldn't get stops down the stretch in the second half. This is part of it and we're going to move forward."

With the loss, Samford falls to 15-14 overall and 8-6 in Southern Conference play. Samford will be the No. 4 seed for next week's SoCon Tournament. The Bulldogs will open play in the tournament against No.5-seeded Furman Thursday at approximately 1:15 p.m. (CT). Mercer is the No. 3 seed and will play No. 6-seeded Wofford Thursday at 5:45 p.m. (CT). For a full SoCon Tournament bracket click here: SOCON TOURNAMENT BRACKET

In the loss for Samford, Taylor Reece and Krista Stricklin scored 19 points each. Hannah Nichols scored 16 points, while Destiney Elliott added nine points. Stricklin also had a team-high eight rebounds, while Brittany Stevens dished out seven assists.

For Mercer, Alicia Williams led the way with 24 points. Precious Bridges scored 21 points, while Kahlia Lawrence had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Bears.

Samford started the game off hot, scoring the first nine points of the contest to take an early 9-0 lead with 17:29 to go in the first half following a jumper by Nichols. With Samford leading, 14-2, Mercer went on a 10-0 run to cut the lead to two points at 14-12 with 11:00 to go in the half after a three-point play by Alex Williams

The Bulldogs answered with a 16-2 run to push their lead to 30-14 with 3:51 to go in the opening period after a three-pointer by Reece. Mercer fought back to cut the Samford lead to 10 points at 33-23, but a late three-pointer by Reece gave Samford a 36-23 advantage heading into the locker room at halftime.

In the second half, Samford pushed its lead out to 17 points at 43-26 with 15:47 left in the game after a layup by Stricklin. With Samford leading, 46-31, Mercer went on a 19-6 run to close to within two points at 52-50 with 6:31 left in the game following a jumper by Lawrence.

Samford pushed the lead back out to seven points at 63-56 with 3:34 to go following a three-pointer by Nichols. With Samford leading, 65-59, Mercer closed the game on an 11-0 run to come back for the 70-65 win.

As a team, Samford shot 44.4 percent overall, including 42.3 percent from three-point range. Mercer made 42.4 percent of its shots overall and 50 percent from beyond the arc. Samford won the rebounding battle, 35-32.

All of Samford's games in next week's SoCon Tournament can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1 or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/wvsu.