Mercer Set For Florida Atlantic on Friday

MACON, Ga. – The Bears will wrap up the week with a game against Florida Atlantic on Friday at Hawkins Arena.

THE BEAR NECESSITIES
Date: Friday, November 18 | 7 p.m.
Teams: Mercer (2-1) vs. Florida Atlantic (2-0)
Location: Macon, Ga. | Hawkins Arena
Game Notes: Mercer | FAU
Live Stats: MercerBears.com | Video: ESPN3
Twitter Updates: @MercerWBB

NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP FOR CALLOWAY
KeKe Calloway finished her freshman season as one of Mercer's leading scorers in the SoCon Tournament. The guard has started her sophomore season in much of the same fashion as she currently leads the Bears with 21.0 points per game. Calloway has reached 20+ points in each of the last two games with a career-high 24 points against Georgia and 22 against Campbell.

Calloway also leads the SoCon and ranks 60th nationally in ppg. Additionally, she ranks 12th nationally and first in the SoCon with 63 total points.

KEKE FOR THREE!
In addition to leading Mercer in points per game, Calloway has net a team-leading 10 three-pointers so far this season. The sophomore leads the league and is 11th nationally in three-pointers made. She also ranks first in the conference and 11th nationally in attempts.

OUTSTANDING OFFENSE
In just two games this season, Mercer has proved that it will continue to put on a show on offense. The Bears are leading the SoCon in scoring offense (74.7), field goal percentage (.440), assists (47) and assists per game (15.7). Mercer is also ranked 27th nationally in assists and 66th in three-point field goal percentage.

WILLIAMS IN THE STARTING LINEUP
Alex Williams, who was a solid player off the bench for Mercer last season, has started all three games so far this year. The junior is averaging 7.7 points per game and 3.0 rebounds per game. Additionally, she leads the SoCon in both blocked shots (6) and blocks per game (2.0). Williams also ranks 28th nationally in blocked shots and 87th in blocks per game.

MERCER RECEIVING VOTES IN LATEST MID-MAJOR POLL
The Bears are receiving votes in the latest edition of the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25. Mercer has 67 points, the second-most of a team outside the Top 25.
Mercer joins No. 4 Chattanooga as the only two SoCon teams to be ranked in the preseason poll, which is made up of head coaches from 31 mid-major programs. The Bears are only 24 points outside of the poll, which was released prior to the win over Campbell on Wednesday.

MERCER PICKED SECOND IN SOCON PRESEASON POLLS
After shocking the Southern Conference last season and winning a share of the regular season title, Mercer has been picked to finish second in the conference for the 2016-17 campaign. Additionally, Kahlia Lawrence and Sydni Means were named to the Preseason All-Conference Team.

The Bears tallied three first place votes and were just two votes behind the Mocs in the coaches poll. Chattanooga was voted first in both the coaches and the media polls, just narrowly edging Mercer in both.

Lawrence led Mercer in 2015-16 and finished the season ranked second in the SoCon with 18.0 points per game. In just two seasons, she has scored over 1,000 career points and currently ranks 20th on Mercer's all-time scoring leaderboard. Lawrence also averaged 5.5 rebounds per game and added 71 assists, 48 steals and 10 blocks on the year.

Last season, Means blossomed as the Bears' starting point guard, finishing the season with 189 assist, 5.7 assists per game and a 2.91 assist/turnover ratio. Nationally, Means ranked sixth in assist/turnover ratio, 20th in total assists and 23rd in assists per game. She also led Mercer and the SoCon in steals (80) and was second in the SoCon with a 79.0 free throw percentage after going 90-of-124 from the charity stripe.

SERIES HISTORY
Mercer leads the series, 20-14, which includes a 12-2 mark in Macon. The teams, which were both part of the ASUN for several years, have not met since 2008.

SCOUTING FLORIDA ATLANTIC
Florida Atlantic has started the season with a 2-0 record after a solid win over Florida Memorial and a close call with Indiana State. Overall, the Owls have outscored their opponents 77.0-65.5 in the first two games.

Nika Zyryanova leads the Owls with 13.0 ppg, followed closely by Malia Kency with 12.0 ppg. Raven Doyle has tallied 9.5 ppg and is FAU's leading rebounder with 10.5 rpg.

Doyle leads the C-USA and ranks 57th nationally in rebounds per game, while currently fourth in total rebounds.

Kency, Zyryanova and Sasha Cedeno are all shooting around .500 from outside the arc and each has notched five three-pointers thus far. FAU has averaged 9 treys a game while holding opponents to 4.5.

How to Follow the Bears:
For complete coverage of Mercer Women's Basketball, please follow the Bears on social media at @MercerWBB (Twitter), /MercerWBB (Facebook) and @MercerWBB (Instagram) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com.

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Players Mentioned

KeKe Calloway

Kahlia Lawrence

Sydni Means

Alex Williams

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