The Mercer Cardinals fought the good fight in their overtime contest against the Milan Wildcats on Thursday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Wildcats by a score of 63-61. Mercer's defeat signaled the end of their three-game winning streak.
Milan's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Avery Pickering led the charge by dropping a double-double on 17 points and 11 rebounds. Pickering is absolutely dominating the rebound category: she's posted at least eight every time she's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Marian Dabney, who scored 21 points along with 5 blocks.
Mercer's loss dropped their record down to 3-1. As for Milan, their win bumped their record up to 5-1.
Mercer's road trip will continue as they head out to face Grundy County at 6:00 p.m. on December 15th. Grundy County will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Missouri Rankings (they are ranked 196th, while Mercer is ranked 36th). As for Milan, they will be playing at home against Polo at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Polo's defense has only allowed 26.5 points per game this season, so Milan's offense will have their work cut out for Milan.
