Final Score: Tennessee State 61 – Mercer 81
Records: TSU (0-1) Mercer (1-1)
Arena: Hawkins Arena
Location: Macon, Ga.

Macon, Ga. --- The Tennessee State University women's basketball team saw the game slip away in the fourth quarter as the Lady Tigers fell to Mercer, 81-61, Saturday afternoon in Hawkins Arena.

In a game that was competitive from the start, there were two ties and six lead changes before Mercer managed to pull away.

Andreana Wrister led TSU with a career-high 17 points while Taylor Roberts had 15. Jaden Wrightsell registered 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Tennessee State (0-1) went 20-of-65 from the field and 2-of-12 from three-point range in the contest.

"Overall I'm proud of our effort," said head coach Ty Evans. "I thought we came out and played extremely hard.  It was a good game for us in terms of where we're trying to go. Not necessarily the outcome we wanted but they can see now where we're trying to go. We're looking forward to Wednesday."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• TSU Leaders
  • Points: Andreana Wrister – 17
  • Rebounds: Jaden Wrightsell – 8
  • Steals: Jaden Wrightsell and Jasmine Broner – 2
  • Assists: Jaden Wrightsell - 3
• TSU went 19-of-30 from the free-throw line and forced 20 turnovers.
• TSU led for 11:36 while Mercer held the advantage for 27:22 minutes of the contest.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• TSU shook off the opening game jitters and erased a four-point deficit with a 5-0 run.
• The Lady Tigers used their defensive pressure to create offense and captured a 16-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.
• TSU stretched the advantage to 19-12 when Amber Appiah-Kubi drained a three-pointer to start the second frame.
• The Lady Tigers managed to build an eight-point lead but the Bears outscored TSU 13-2 over the next four minutes to reclaim a 28-25 advantage.
• Heading into the halftime break, TSU trailed Mercer, 31-28.
• In the second half, the team's traded buckets.
• A post-to-post connection with Nijah Cunningham and Jaden Wrightsell briefly gave TSU a 36-35 lead but Mercer went back on top the next trip down the floor.
• A few empty possessions led to the opponent going ahead 43-36 with 5:28 on the clock.
• Andreana Wrister ended TSU's scoring drought with an "And 1" to make the score, 45-39, in favor of Mercer.
• Tennessee State called a timeout after falling behind by 10 points.
• TSU ended up getting outscored, 23-14, in the third quarter and trailed 54-42 heading into the final stanza.
• The Lady Tigers stayed within striking distance and closed the gap to, 56-49 at the 8:07 mark.
• Over the next four minutes, the Bears built their lead back up to double-digits.  
• With 2:38 remaining in the game, a burst of back-to-back fast break buckets put Mercer on top, 73-57, and forced another TSU timeout.
• Despite their efforts, the Lady Tigers could not get back into the game.

GAME NOTES

• Jaden Wrightsell was two rebounds away from posting her 11th career double-doubles.
• Taylor Roberts scored in double-digits for the fourth straight season opener. She had 19 points in the season opener as a freshman, 12 points as a sophomore, 13 points as a junior and 15 points today.
• This was the first meeting between TSU and Mercer since 2002.
• Mercer snapped a four-game losing skid to Tennessee State

UP NEXT

• TSU returns to action on Wednesday, Dec. 2 at home against Georgia State. Game time is set for 5 p.m. in the Gentry Center.