SALISBURY, NC - The cold shooting from behind the arc continues to plague the Bears, as they went just 5-20 from three en-route to a 61-56 loss at Catawba on Wednesday night. Both Alexandra Merceron and Emily Harman finished with 12 points to lead the Bears.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Lenoir-Rhyne 56, Catawba 61
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne 3-5 (2-4 SAC), Catawba 5-3 (3-2 SAC)
Location: Salisbury, NC | Goodman Arena

STORY OF THE GAME:

• Catawba jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead just two and a half minutes in.
• Sofia Mendez hit a late three to cut the Indians' lead to 17-12 after one.
• LR went on a quick 6-0 run midway through the second quarter to cut the lead to 19-18.
• Both teams struggled to shoot over the final few minutes and Catawba took a 24-20 lead into the break.
• Alexandra Merceron scored four points and Vanessa Jurewicz made a layup to quickly put the Bears up 26-24.
• Catawba took back the lead and held a 41-39 advantage going into the final frame.
• Blaikley Crooks tied things up at 50-50, but the Indians outscored the Bears 11-6 the rest of the way to seal the win.

STATS OF THE MATCH:

• Alexandra Merceron and Emily Harman led the Bears with 12 points each.
• Merceron led the team with seven boards, Harman with three assists.
• Blaikley Crooks and Maleiya Hill each tallied three steals.
• The Bears were 21-52 (40.4%) from the field and 5-20 (25%) from three.
• Catawba went 24-58 (41.4%) from the field and 8-18 (44.4%) from behind the arc. 
• The Indians won the rebounding battle 38-27.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• Merceron continues her double-figures streak, having scored at least 10 points in every game this year.
• Crooks has notched a steal in every game this year.
• LR is now 30-43 all-time against the Indians.

UP NEXT: Lenoir-Rhyne will be back at home on Saturday when they host the Tusculum Pioneers. TU took down Mars Hill 78-74 earlier tonight. Tipoff is set for 2:00 p.m. from Shuford Arena.