Mercer Set For Saturday Showdown With Chattanooga

Saturday, January 7

Macon, Ga.

2:00 PM ET

Mercer University

Chattanooga

Photo courtesy of Judy Stapleton

Photo by: Judy Stapleton

Mercer Set For Saturday Showdown With Chattanooga

1/6/2017 2:03:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Live Stats ESPN3 Radio

MACON, Ga. – The Bears will wrap-up the opening weekend of Southern Conference play on Saturday. in a showdown between the 2016 SoCon regular season champions. Mercer and Chattanooga are set to tip off at 2 p.m. in Hawkins Arena.

THE BEAR NECESSITIES
Date: Saturday, January 7 | 2 p.m.
Teams: Mercer (12-3, 1-0 SoCon) vs. Chattanooga (7-8, 1-0 SoCon)
Location: Macon, Ga. | Hawkins Arena
Game Notes: Mercer
Live Stats: MercerBears.com | Video: ESPN3 | Radio: 97.3 The Bull Icons
Twitter Updates: @MercerWBB

STELLAR START
Mercer has started the season with a 12-3 record, the best under Coach Gardner. The Bears have recorded the program's best non-conference record (11-3) in regular season play in the NCAA era. It is also the best start through 15 games since Mercer went 13-2 at the beginning of the 1979-80 season.

PUTTING THE "W" IN HAWKINS ARENA
Mercer is 7-1 at Hawkins Arena so far this season. Since the start of the 2014-15 season, Mercer has tallied a 29-10 mark in Hawkins Arena.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
In Mercer's win over ETSU on Thursday, both Sydni Means and Alex Williams recorded double-doubles. Means notched 15 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists as she also flirted with a triple-double. Williams tallied 22 points and 11 rebounds in her fourth career double-double.

LAWRENCE LEADING THE WAY
Kahlia Lawrence is leading Mercer and ranks third in the SoCon with 17.8 points per game. The junior also ranks 60th nationally in ppg. Lawrence notched her seventh career double-double last week with 27 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Davidson. She has reached double figures in scoring 11 times this season and topped 20 points in five games.

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 is second for Mercer with 14.8 points per game.

Calloway has reached double figures in 10 games this season and led the Bears in scoring in six games, including a 21-point performance vs. West Georgia in December.

KEKE FOR THREE
KeKe Calloway leads Mercer and ranks fourth in the conference from outside the arc with 36 made three-pointers. Calloway also ranks 63rd nationally in made three pointers. She is also first in the SoCon and 11th nationally with 128 attempted treys. Calloway is averaging 2.40 three-pointers a game, putting her fourth in the conference and 87th in the nation.

After making two three-pointers in Mercer's win over Paine, Calloway earned a spot on the Bears' career made three-pointers leaderboard. She currently sits in 10th place with 88 made three-pointers.

WILLIAMS BACK IN THE STARTING LINEUP
Alex Williams started the first four games of the season for the Bears before missing six games due to injury. Williams has been back on the floor for Mercer since Dec. 18 but re-entered the starting lineup on New Year's Eve. Williams scored a season-high 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the win over Paine. She gave an even better performance in the win over ETSU, scoring a career-high 22 points and pulling down a season-high 11 rebounds for her first double-double of the season.

DUBS ON DUBS ON DUBS
Mercer is outscoring its opponents by 10.3 ppg this season, which is buoyed by three players averaging double figures in scoring. In addition to Kahlia Lawrence's 17.8 and KeKe Calloway's 14.8 ppg, Sydni Means scored 15 points in the win over ETSU to bump her season average up to 10.0 ppg.

DEFENSE STANDING OUT
Mercer has focused more on defense this season and it has paid off. The Bears lead the SoCon and rank 36th nationally in scoring defense, allowing opponents to score just 57.1 points per game. Mercer has held its opponents to less than 60 points in eight games and less than 50 points in four games this season.

BEARS ON THE BOARDS
Amanda Thompson leads Mercer on the boards with 7.7 rebounds per game this season, followed by Alex Williams with 5.8 boards a game. Rachel Selph has been back on the court for just four games for the Bears, but is already third on the team with 5.3 rpg.

Thompson ranks fifth in the SoCon in rebounds per game and total rebounds (115). She has grabbed at least eight rebounds in seven of her last 12 games, including a career-high 16 against Kennesaw State in December.

SMOOTH CRIMINALS
As a team, Mercer has grabbed 161 steals and is averaging 10.7 steals per game. The Bears lead the SoCon in both categories and rank 23rd and 39th nationally, respectively.

Mercer has also recorded three of the SoCon's top five single-game steals performances, which includes the Bears' season-high 19 against Georgia Southern.

SHARING IS CARING
After finishing last season leading the SoCon in total assists and assists per game, Sydni Means is still on top. Means has dished out 96 assists and is averaging 6.4 apg, both of which lead the conference. She is ranked 14th nationally in total assists and 19th in apg. Means also leads the conference with a 3.0 assist/ turnover ratio and ranks 15th nationally.

ALL ABOUT THE GIVE AND TAKE
In addition to leading the SoCon in assists and assists per game, Sydni Means has notched 43 steals and 2.87 steals per game and leads the conference in both categories. She ranks 18th nationally in total steals and 30th in steals per game. The junior point guard has recorded the SoCon's single-game highs for both assists (13) and steals (7). Means dished out 13 assists in the win over Paine, setting a new career high.

HOLDING ONTO THE BALL
The Bears are protecting the rock well this year and are second in the nation with 10.7 turnovers per game. Against Florida Atlantic, Mercer committed just three turnovers, which is a nation-wide single-game low this season.

Mercer is also fourth in the nation in turnover margin, as the Bears have recorded a +9.47 turnover margin thus far. Mercer is forcing 20.13 turnovers per game, ranking first in the SoCon and 45th nationally.

SERIES HISTORY
Chattanooga leads the series with a 13-2 record, including a 5-2 mark in Macon. Last season, Mercer downed Chattanooga 67-44 in Macon, snapping the Mocs' 52-game SoCon winning streak. Chattanooga won the latter two games in the season, including the SoCon Tournament Championship.

SCOUTING CHATTANOOGA
Chattanooga logged a 6-8 mark in non-conference play, which includes four losses to top-25 ranked teams. The Mocs defeated Samford 77-61 on Wednesday to open SoCon play at 1-0.

Jasmine Joyner leads Chattanooga with 11.4 ppg, followed by Queen Alford and Chelsey Shumpert with 10.9 and 10.8 ppg, respectively. Lakelyn Bouldin is also close to averaging double figures with 9.7 ppg.

Joyner also leads the Mocs with 9.3 rpg, ranking her second in the conference. The senior is also first in the league and second nationally with 3.93 blocks per game.

Chattanooga has been outscored by an average of 1.9 ppg this season, but five of its seven wins have been by a margin of 10 or more points.

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.