Mercer Announces 2017-18 Women's Basketball Schedule

MACON, Ga. – Mercer Women's Basketball Head Coach Susie Gardner announced the team's 2017-18 schedule on Monday, revealing the 29-game regular season slate.

To see the full schedule on MercerBears.com, click here.

Tough as Nails
Mercer's nonconference schedule this year includes 15 games, of which nine opponents had winning records and five of those nine played in the postseason. Western Kentucky and UNC Asheville played in the NCAA Tournament last season, while Central Florida and George Washington joined the Bears in the WNIT. Campbell also experienced postseason play, competing in the WBI. Mercer will also host Georgia and travel to both North Carolina and Charlotte.

SoCon Three-peat?
Mercer finished 25-7 last season, claiming its second consecutive Southern Conference regular season championship. The Bears downed Samford on Feb. 25 to clinch a share of the regular season title, behind a 31-point performance by two-time SoCon Player of the Year, Kahlia Lawrence. Mercer opens conference play on Jan. 4 at Wofford and will close out conference action on Feb. 24 when the Bears host ETSU.

Veteran Status
Mercer returns its top nine scorers from a season ago, including Lawrence who led the squad with 18.4 points. The Bears also return their top nine rebounders, led by Amanda Thompson with 6.5 per contest. Mercer's roster consists of 14 student-athletes, 10 of which are upperclassmen.

Conference Play
The home-away format of league scheduling will see all seven conference opponents come to Macon. Conference play will determine seeding for the SoCon Tournament, set to be contested March 1-4 in Asheville, N.C.

Gardner on the Nonconference Slate:
"In nonconference games last season, the scoring margins were widespread. The SoCon is a very competitive conference and I felt that this year's schedule needed to be one where we have more close games. People will immediately focus on us playing Georgia and UNC Chapel Hill, but we have great teams throughout our schedule – Western Kentucky and UNC Asheville went to the NCAA Tournament and Central Florida and Georgia Washington were in the WNIT. In my opinion, this is the best nonconference schedule we have had since I have been here."

Gardner on Season Expectations:
"For the most part, we have the same exact team as we had last year. We have a lot of veteran leadership so the expectations are a little bit different. We have a good team; we just have to worry about Mercer and performing at our top level. Those five seniors need to be playing the best basketball of their careers."

2017-18 Mercer Women's Basketball Schedule (All Times Eastern)

Date	Time (ET)	Opponent	Location
November 10	TBD	Central Florida	Orlando, Fla.
November 12	2 p.m.	Florida Atlantic	Boca Raton, Fla.
November 16	7 p.m.	Georgia Southern	Macon, Ga.
November 19	2 p.m.	Georgia	Macon, Ga.
November 24	6 p.m.	Western Kentucky	Atlanta, Ga.
November 26	4 p.m.	VCU	Atlanta, Ga.
November 30	7 p.m.	Campbell	Buies Creek, N.C.
December 3	2 p.m.	Davidson	Macon, Ga.
December 6	7 p.m.	George Washington	Macon, Ga.
December 10	1 p.m.	UNC Asheville	Asheville, N.C.
December 17	2 p.m.	Winthrop	Macon, Ga.
December 19	7 p.m.	South Carolina State	Macon, Ga.
December 21	7 p.m.	Howard	Macon, Ga.
December 28	2 p.m.	North Carolina	Chapel Hill, N.C.
December 30	7 p.m.	Charlotte	Charlotte, N.C.
January 4	TBD	Wofford*	Spartanburg, S.C.
January 6	TBD	Furman *	Greenville, S.C.
January 13	TBD	Samford*	Birmingham, Ala.
January 18	7 p.m.	UNCG*	Macon, Ga.
January 20	2 p.m.	Western Carolina*	Macon, Ga.
January 25	TBD	ETSU*	Johnson City, Tenn.
January 27	TBD	Chattanooga*	Chattanooga, Tenn.
February 1	5 p.m.	Furman*	Macon, Ga.
February 3	2 p.m.	Wofford*	Macon, Ga.
February 10	2 p.m.	Samford*	Macon, Ga.
February 15	TBD	Western Carolina*	Cullowhee, N.C.
February 17	TBD	UNCG*	Greensboro, N.C.
February 22	7 p.m.	Chattanooga*	Macon, Ga.
February 24	2 p.m.	ETSU*	Macon, Ga.
March 1-4	TBD	SoCon Championship	Asheville, N.C.

* – SoCon Game
Bold – Home Game (Hawkins Arena)

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.

Mercer Announces 2017-18 Women's Basketball Schedule

Players Mentioned

Kahlia Lawrence

Amanda Thompson

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