Wednesday's Daily News 'n Notes: Mercer women's/men's hoops; United's Martinez MVP; Tech and bowl/search talk; and more
Wednesday's Central Georgia - and of interest to Central Georgia - news and notes, compiled from staff reports, email reports, the web, and social media.
Mercer loses heartbreaker to Florida State
Things were in place for Mercer to take an ACC scalp at home, the Bears leading by 11 in the second quarter and 12 in the third.
But Florida State stormed back in the fourth, regained a lead it hadnât had since midway in the first, countered KeKe Callowayâs lead-taking bucket 15 seconds later and held onto nip Mercer 57-56 in womenâs hoops at Hawkins Arena.
The Seminoles led for about five minutes in the first quarter, and then for a long stretch of less than two minutes until the end. Nicki Ekhomuâs jumper put FSU up 57-56 with two minutes left, and the Bears had two turnovers and missed two shots as they couldnât take advantage of a sloppy Seminoles finish.
FSU missed two shots and had three turnovers in the final two minutes. Calloway missed a 3 with five seconds left, FSU got the rebound and turned it over, but Amanda Thompson was whistled for a charge.
âThey were defending KeKe so tight on the last play and that's what teams will do, defend the leading scorer,â Mercer head coach Susie Gardner said. âAmanda had another good game for us, so the objective was to go to her and the defender jumped out and drew the charge."
Mercer was outshot 42.9-39.3 percent, but was better at the line and had three fewer turnovers.
Peach County grad Nausia Woolfolk had 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting, with four assists and steals plus five turnovers in 33 minutes. Calloway led Mercer with 21 and Thompson had 18.
The Bears (4-5) host Charlotte on Sunday.
Unitedâs Martinez takes MLS MVP
After crushing the leagueâs mark for goals in a season, it was no stunner for Atlantaâs Josef Martinez to win the MLSâs top individual honor.
Georgiaâs Tucker takes Colorado job, leaves ASAP
Coloradoâs hiring of UGA defensive coordinator Mel Tucker became official, and he wonât coach in the bowl game.
Johnson, Minnesotaâs Fleck talk about the matchup
Head coaches Paul Johnson of Georgia Tech and P.J. Fleck of Minnesota â two slightly different personalities â met the media to talk about the Quick Lane Bowl.
Stansbury taking his time on coaching search
Georgia Techâs Todd Stansbury wonât be making any knee-jerk moves.
Around Central Georgia
Mercerâs strong second half not enough at FAU
Around Georgia
Georgia State enjoys walk-off win over Alabama
Football updates
Georgia
Smart finalist for Dodd Trophy
Georgia Tech
Temple's Collins a candidate, is ahead of the curve
Column: Whisenhunt may be a huge whiff
Falcons
Coleman on the not-so-much-running run game (vid)
Mack on the not-so ⊠well, you know (vid)