Bears Turn Sights on Knights

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer Women's Basketball team will aim for its third consecutive win, this time squaring off against UCF tomorrow at 2 p.m. The Bears enter the contest with a 2-1 overall mark, having most recently bested Florida on Thursday by the final score of 92-82. UCF enters Hawkins Arena with a 2-0 overall record.

BEAR NECESSITIES
Date: Sunday, Nov. 18, 2018 | 2 p.m.
Teams: Mercer (2-1) vs. UCF (2-0)
Location: Macon, Ga. | Hawkins Arena
Live Stats: mercerbears.com/livestats
Live Video: mercerbears.com/livevideo
TV: ESPN+
TV Talent: Todd Wilson, Sybil Blalock, Avery Braxton
Radio: 100.9 "The Creek", Sports Mic
Radio Talent: Rick Cameron
Twitter Updates: @MercerWBB
Game Notes: Mercer | UCF

Feels Good to be Home
Mercer kicked off its home season on Thursday with a thrilling 92-82 victory over Florida. The Bears ignited the home crowd with eight three pointers, 18 assists and great defense in forcing 15 turnovers on the night. The Bears earned their seventh consecutive home-opening victory, while also improving to 7-2 in home openers under the helm of Coach Gardner.

Who Doesn't Want to Score?
The Bears have posted four players in double figures in the last two games. In the previous game against Florida, Calloway led Mercer with 30, while Titus (17), Rosendal (16) and Thompson (14) added to the scoring outburst. Through the first three games of the season, the Bears have four players averaging in the double digits.

Tale of Two Halves
The Bears have proven to be a second-half team early on in the season. Against Wake Forest, Mercer scored 26 points in the second half, including outscoring the Deacs 18-12 in the final quarter. Same story seemed to be true against Georgia Southern after outscoring the Eagles 46-39 in the final 20 minutes, including 28-20 in the final quarter. The Bears went to work against the Gators in the third quarter, outscoring the visiting squad 30-18 through the 10-minute span. Mercer scored 53 of its 92 points in the second half against Florida.

Last Time Out
The Bears took advantage of four players in double digits with a 92-82 victory over Florida on Thursday night. Mercer won its home opener in front of the 10th largest women's basketball crowd in program history. The Bears shot a scorching .538 from the field, including .500 from downtown. The Bears also distributed the ball well, picking up 18 assists while only committing nine turnovers. The defense forced 15 turnovers, 10 of which were swiped by the hands of the Bears. Mercer outrebounded Florida 32-28 in the contest, including 14-11 on the offensive glass.

KeKe Calloway dropped 30 points and 10 assists for her first career double-double. The Bears were also sparked by Shannon Titus, scoring 17 points, while also grabbing five rebounds and handing out five assists. Amanda Thompson notched a career-high 14 points, while also pulling down six boards. Linnea Rosendal was the final double-digit scorer, collecting 16 on the evening.

Series History
The Bears are 17-26 all-time against the Knights, including 1-1 since the beginning of the Susie Gardner era. Mercer is 8-8 all-time against UCF when playing in Macon, Ga. The Knights have won eight of the last 10 showdowns against the Bears. However, Mercer upended UCF in the season opener last year in Orlando, Fla., besting the Knights 73-64.

Not Your Knight
UCF is 2-0 coming into Macon, having defeated Pittsburgh (61-58) and Stetson (78-55). The Knights were slated to finish fourth in the American Athletic Conference preseason poll, only behind UConn, USF and Houston. UCF also received votes in the USA Today/WBCA Preseason Top 25 poll for the first time in program history.

As a team, the Knights are averaging 69.5 points per game, while outscoring their opponents by 13. On the season, UCF is shooting .458 from the floor and .424 from downtown. The Knights are also winning the rebounding edge 35.5-27.0.

Sydnee McDonald (19.0) and Kornelia "Kay Kay" Wright (18.0) lead the way in scoring for UCF and return as the top scorers from a season ago. Nyala Shuler leads the way on the boards, averaging 10.5 rebounds per outing.

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

Linnea Rosendal

Amanda Thompson

Shannon Titus

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