Mercurio brook the single game record for three’s she set her freshman season connecting on eight of 10 from beyond the arc, six of those came in the first half when she hit on six of seven from down town.
The second meeting between the two teams in fewer than 48 hours saw the two team’s battle back and forth for the first eight minutes of the game.
Northland Baptist took a 13-12 lead with 12 minutes to go in the half.
Annika Bergman put UMM up 15-13 with her only three-pointer of the night, and the Cougars never trailed after that.
After a Morgan Chatmon basket, Kay Saager connected from long range to put Minnesota-Morris on top 20-14 with 10:33 to go in the first half.
The Lady Pioneer closed to with in four at 24-20, a few minutes later, but the Cougars went on a 24-1 run over the final six plus minutes of the half to head to the locker room with a 45-21 advantage. Mercurio had four three’s in that stretch.
The Cougars kept that momentum and used strong defensive pressure to start the second half causing five turnovers and outscored Northland Baptist 10-3 to start the half and opened up a 55-24 lead and cruised to their third straight win.
UMM shot 48 percent (34-71) from the field, including 12-24 (50%) from three-point land and out rebounded Northland 46-31.
Morgan Chatmon added 13 points for the Cougars and Malinda Berglund and Marissa Maynard each added nine. Berglund added six assists.
Minnesota-Morris, now 5-2 overall will host North Central University Saturday December 11 at 3:00 at the P.E Center, following the Cougars men’s game with the Rams.