Mercer Ready to Roll into Road Matchup with Alabama

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer Women's Basketball team will continue its three-game road trip as the team travels down to face Alabama on Sunday afternoon.

The Bears are coming off a 64-92 setback at Kennesaw State on Wednesday.

BEAR NECESSITIES
Date: Sunday, Nov. 17, 2019 | 3:00 p.m.
Teams: Mercer (1-2) at Alabama (1-1)
Location: Tuscaloosa, Ala. | Coleman Colliseum
Live Stats: rolltide.com
TV: SEC Network+
Twitter Updates: @Mercer_WBB
Game Notes: Mercer | Alabama

Twice as Nice
Sophomore forward Jaron Dougherty recorded the second double-double of her career in as many games on Wednesday evening at Kennesaw State (14 points/10 rebounds). The Buford, Ga., native's first double-double was a dandy as she contributed 26 points and 13 rebounds against Western Kentucky. It was Mercer's first double-double of the young season as Dougherty set personal bests in points, rebounds, defensive rebounds (10), field goals made (12), field goals attempted (21), 3-pointers made (1), 3-pointers attempted (2) and minutes (37).

Crash the Boards
Rebounding has been a key factor in each of Mercer's first three games this season as the Bears are 1-0 when outrebounding their opponent but 0-2 when being outrebounded. In those two games, Mercer has trailed its opponents in second chance points by a combined 31-19.

Far From Home
The Bears continue their three-game road trip on Sunday at Alabama following a 1-1 homestand to open the year. Mercer closes out the trip at in-state rival Georgia on Thursday.

Last Time Out
Mercer opened its three-game road trip with a 92-64 setback at Kennesaw State on Friday.

The two sides battled back-and-forth for the first five minutes of the contest, but a 21-2 run by the Owls blew the game open for the home side. Kennesaw State's offense was unrelenting with a 49.2 shooting percentage on the night, including a 61.5 percent clip in the second half.

Kennesaw State dominated the battle on the boards, 47-34, generating 15 second chance points. The home side managed to get into the prime scoring real estate often in the contest, scoring 50 points in the paint.

Jaron Dougherty notched her second career double-double in as many games with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while also recording the team's only two blocks on the defensive end. Amoria Neal-Tysor turned on her offensive touch in the second half, finishing with a career-high 20 points and five rebounds in the contest. Summer Pahl added a team-high four steals in Mercer's first road test of the season.

Series History
Mercer and Alabama have only faced each other once in the regular season since 1994, before all of these players were even born. The last regular season meeting came on Dec. 14, 2014, when the Bears captured a 46-39 victory in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

The most recent meeting between these two squads came in the 2017 WNIT when the Crimson Tide came away with an 81-57 home victory. Mercer's Kahlia Lawrence and Alabama's Ashley Williams tied with a game-high 19 points each, while current assistant coach for the Bears Sydni Means deposited 15 points, five rebounds and five assists in the contest.

Scouting the Crimson Tide
Alabama enters today's matchup fresh off a 67-54 victory at Clemson on Tuesday to bring its record even at 1-1. Senior Cierra Johnson came up big off the bench for the Crimson Tide, leading the team with 21 points, eight rebounds and six steals, while shooting 7-of-10 from the floor.

The Crimson Tide's +8.0 rebounding margin poses a possible problem for the Bears, who are averaging just 29.3 boards per game. Bama has three players averaging double-digit points on the young season with Johnson leading the way at 14.5 points per game. Ariyah Copeland and Brittany Davis are both averaging 10.5 points as well. Copeland is the team's leading rebounder, bringing down 9.0 rebounds per game, while Jordan Lewis' 12 assists is the most on the team.

Johnson was named to the Preseason All-SEC Second Team, becoming the first Alabama player to receive preseason recognition since Ericka Russell in 2011. As a team, the Crimson Tide were selected to finish 11th of 14 teams in the conference.

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

Mercer Ready to Roll into Road Matchup with Alabama

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Players Mentioned

Jaron Dougherty

Amoria Neal-Tysor

Summer Pahl

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