Game two on the season was a bit of Jekyll and Hyde scenario, as this looked like a totally different Lady Camel team than the one that took the floor last Friday night in Gore Arena.  I don’t know if it was being on the road, or the pressure of a televised game (ESPN 3), but we got off to a slow start.  A very slow start.  The Lady Camels finished the first quarter with 8 points on 27% shooting.  That’s a rough way to start any game, but especially on the road, and especially against an experienced Mercer team.

These are the kind of games where you learn about your team.  That being said, this is only the second game of the season and this team is young.  Very young.  Kahlia Lawerence for Mercer put up 29 points in 36 minutes of play and she was tough.  She had one of the best jump stops I’ve seen in men’s or women’s basketball in quite some time and she was excellent at creating her own space.  It seemed like no matter what we did all night we didn’t have an answer for her.

We seemed sluggish.  The, “pop” and “hustle” that was there last Friday felt like a distant memory for most of the game.  We seemed content to slow the pace and establish our offense after crossing half court (exactly the opposite of Friday as well).  There wasn’t a lot of motion away from the ball–especially in the paint.  We were successful last week when we pushed the pace and that style of play was not present tonight.

Hustle gets you points.  Hustle gets you turnovers.  We got out-hustled tonight.  A quick look at some key indicators tells one all they need to know about who was pushing the pace:  Mercer had 22 points off of turnovers compared to 5 from Campbell.  Campbell had zero fast break points and only 2 second chance points.  Our shooting wasn’t great, but our followup needed work as well.  And. . .we were getting out hustled.  That’s a recipe for disaster.  

The game was closer than the 76-60 final score indicated, but it wasn’t ever pretty.  The Camels need a solid case of amnesia after this one.  There’s work to be done all around, but I’m more than confident they will bounce back.  Coach Fisher will undoubtedly take this game back to the proverbial drawing board and regroup.  Looking forward to seeing Saturday’s matchup at Gore Arena.