{"id":5712,"date":"2019-02-25T09:51:07","date_gmt":"2019-02-25T14:51:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=5712"},"modified":"2025-08-22T19:36:54","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T23:36:54","slug":"shooting-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2019\/02\/25\/shooting-star\/","title":{"rendered":"Shooting Star"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Number 14, freshman-guard, Hunter Mercier sizes up a shot versus SUNY Canton. Mercier Finished the games leading scorer with 21pts.<\/p><\/div>\n

Time is winding down on the mechanical scoreboard as number 14 dribbles across half court.\u00a0 She fakes right, goes left and puts up a shot.\u00a0 It touches only the net as it slides through the rim.\u00a0 Count it.<\/p>\n

A freshman in the exercise science program, Hunter Mercier has become a key producer for the UMPI women\u2019s basketball team.\u00a0 An avid hiker and swimmer from Fairfield, Maine, Hunter is in the thick of her first season as an UMPI Owl.<\/p>\n

Averaging over 30 minutes of playing time per game, Hunter plays until the final whistle.\u00a0 She is top four in points scored per game, 10.8; rebounds collected per game, 3.6; while impressively making her shots 35.2 percent of the time.<\/p>\n

Hunter also is leading the Owl women in 3-point percentage shooting, an impressive 38.1 percent.\u00a0 When asked about her success from beyond the arc, Hunter answers humbly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI give credit to my teammates for finding me when I am open for three, and us working as hard as we can to get more open looks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mercier is no stranger to basketball, playing through multiple knee surgeries in high school. \u00a0Two new ACLs later she wasn\u2019t ready to give up the hardwood yet. \u00a0She remains a competitor on and off the court.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest adjustment from high school to college sports is the skill of the opponents.\u00a0 The college athletes are bigger than high school players, they\u2019re faster and they\u2019re stronger, so I\u2019ve had to work that much harder to keep a competitive edge.\u201d<\/p>\n

The added difficulty of Hunter\u2019s rehab to maintaining her skill level is an example of the passion she has for the game.<\/p>\n

Hunter said transitioning to a full-time student athlete from high school is difficult.\u00a0 \u201cThere have been more than a few late nights spent studying.\u201d\u00a0 She stays focused to maintain her marks.\u00a0 Academic quality takes priority over athletics here at UMPI.\u00a0 She spoke about the eligibility rules for student athletes being helpful reminders for keeping up with the school work.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf your grades stink, you can\u2019t play. \u00a0And we all want to play.\u201d\u00a0 She plans to continue playing basketball for the University of Maine Presque Isle as she progresses toward her bachelor\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n

When Hunter\u2019s coach, Gavin Kane was asked about her as a student he replied, \u201cHunter has really adapted quickly to life as a college student-athlete.\u00a0 She has done a very good job in the classroom and understands the importance of getting a great education.\u201d<\/p>\n

The conversation rolls to Mercier\u2019s successes as a member of the basketball team.<\/p>\n

\u201cHunter has had an excellent freshman season on the basketball court.\u00a0 The grind in college sports is pretty significant both physically as well as mentally.\u00a0 I feel that (Hunter) has handled both aspects very well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Right now, Hunter is pretty busy with basketball she says. \u00a0But when she does find some free time, she enjoys exploring Presque Isle, as well as socializing in the dorms or Gentile Hall.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Time is winding down on the mechanical scoreboard as number 14 dribbles across half court.\u00a0 She fakes right, goes left and puts up a shot.\u00a0 It touches only the net as it slides through the rim.\u00a0 Count it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":170,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/170"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5712"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8537,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5712\/revisions\/8537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}