Mercer Opens Season with Home Win Versus LaGrange

Tuesday, November 5

Macon, Ga.

7 P.M.

Mercer University

1-0,0-0SoCon

LaGrange

0-0,0-0USA South

LaGrange

Mercer

Mercer Opens Season with Home Win Versus LaGrange

11/5/2019 10:28:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Mercer finished the game on a 13-0 run

By: Stephen Waldman

MACON, Ga. – Mercer Women's Basketball kicked off its 2019-20 campaign with a 74-47 win over LaGrange at Hawkins Arena on Tuesday evening.

Prior to the game, the Bears (1-0) celebrated last season's success by unveiling their three championship banners – honoring their 2018-19 SoCon regular season and tournament titles and the trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Mercer was led offensively by junior Shannon Titus and rookie PJ Wintermyer, who each recorded a game-high 14 points. Four Bears reached double figures as second-year Amoria Neal-Tysor and fellow freshman Jordan McLaughlin both contributed 10 points. Sophomore Tia Benvenuti dished out a team-high four assists, while Titus recorded three helpers as well. On the glass, redshirt sophomore transfer Sierra Votaw and Wintermyer brought down a team-high four rebounds, while second-year Jaron Dougherty added four steals. In the defensive end, Votaw, freshman Jill Harris and Wintermyer all blocked two shots from the Panthers.

The Bears shot 48.1 percent from the field as a team, including going 5-for-9 from beyond-the-arc. Additionally, they held an advantage in points off turnovers (35-9), points in the paint (30-24), fast break points (22-2), bench points (32-29), rebounds (27-26), assists (14-7), turnovers (29-16) and blocked shots (8-0).

How It Happened
The Bears worked a quick 10-2 advantage with 4:53 remaining in the first quarter and never looked back. The fast-paced attack of Mercer used a 10-0 run over a 2:20 stretch to push ahead before utilizing a 12-0 run that carried into the second quarter to gain a comfortable lead at 22-6.

After taking a 34-20 advantage into the break, Mercer maintained its offensive prowess throughout the second half and finished strong with a 13-0 run over the final 2:48 of the game.

Quotables - Head Coach Susie Gardner
On integrating new players…
"Honestly the three freshmen, who we knew the least to expect from, I feel very pleased with them. They didn't look like they were freshmen out there. Jordan (McLaughlin) was running the floor and bringing the team together during free throws, Jill (Harris) was making great calls on offense and PJ (Wintermyer) hit some shots. Our three freshmen played – I won't say, 'as well as they could' – but really well for their first game."

On offensive production…
"We've had players here in the past that we've counted on scoring 20, maybe 30, a game. I'm not expecting Shannon to do that, nor is she or our team. Because there are so many questions, I think we're going to have to get points any way that we can manufacture them. It's going to be a game-to-game scenario of who's playing the best. Our team knows that. I think that's why they all played so hard, because they wanted to be big for us. Last year, I started the same exact lineup for all 30-plus games with no deviation. This year, who knows who's going to start versus Western Kentucky and that's just how it's going to be."

Player of the Game
Freshman PJ Wintermyer was stellar in her collegiate debut for the Bears, tying for the game-high with 14 points, six rebounds and two blocks. She added two steals and was 3-for-7 from 3-point range.

Notables
» Mercer notched its 125th win at Hawkins Arena since it opened at the beginning of the 2003-04 season.
» Mercer won its sixth season-opener under head coach Susie Gardner.
» The Bears' 19 steals eclipsed last season's high of 17, which was recorded on March 22 at Iowa in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
» Mercer improved to 3-0 in the all-time series with LaGrange in the first meeting between the two teams since 1973.
» Shannon Titus recorded her 22nd game with double-digit points.
» Freshmen Jordan McLaughlin and PJ Wintermyer both impressed in their collegiate debuts, combining for 24 points, 10 rebounds, five steals and three blocks.

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.