Bears Back in Action Tuesday at Florida

Tuesday, December 17

Gainesville, Fla.

7 P.M.

Mercer University

Florida

12/16/2019 6:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Mercer will face its third SEC opponent of the season tomorrow.

By: Stephen Waldman

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer Women's Basketball team is set to face its third SEC opponent of the season when it travels to Gainesville, Fla., to take on the University of Florida on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

The Bears have previously faced Alabama and the Georgia on Nov. 17 and 21, respectively.

BEAR NECESSITIES
Date: Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2019 | 7 p.m.
Teams: Mercer (3-7 Overall, 0-0 SoCon) vs. Florida (6-3, 0-0 SEC)
Location: Gainesville, Fla. | Stephen O'Connell Center
Live Stats: floridagators.com/sidearmstats
TV: SEC Network
TV Talent: Eric Freid and Christy Thomaskutty
Twitter Updates: @Mercer_WBB
Game Notes: Mercer | Florida

Trust The Titus Touch
Junior Shannon Titus has been one of the bright spots for the Bears through the early part of the 2019-20 campaign, leading the team in steals (27), scoring (14.3 ppg) and rebounding (7.4 rpg) while being tied with Jaron Dougherty in blocks (1.3 bpg).

The John's Creek, Ga., native recorded her second double-double of the year last game against Clemson with 11 points and 14 rebounds. She added a season-high four blocks against the Tigers, moving into a tie with Alex Williams (61 blocks) for eighth on Mercer's all-time blocks list. Titus posted her first double-double of the year on Nov. 24 against Eastern Kentucky with 13 points and a career-high 14 rebounds.

One Man's Trash…
The Bears have been opportunistic with their offense through the early portion of the 2019-20 campaign, averaging 20.4 points per game off turnovers. Mercer has reached double digits in points off turnovers in all 10 games so far while eclipsing the 20-point mark five times.

Last Time Out
Mercer dropped a hard-fought 65-61 matchup against Clemson on Sunday afternoon at Hawkins Arena.

While the Bears forced Clemson into 21 turnovers and blocked five shots, the Tigers' dominance down low was the difference in the game as they outscored the home side in the paint, 36-14. Mercer shot 37.3 percent (25-of-67) from the floor on the afternoon after going just 4-of-17 (23.5 percent) in the first quarter.

Mercer had three players reach double figures in the scoring column, led by Jaron Dougherty's game-high 22 points. Tia Benvenuti posted her second double-digit point performance of the season with 12 thanks to a career-high four 3-point buckets. Shannon Titus tallied 11 points en route to her second double-double of the season with 14 rebounds.

The John's Creek, Ga., native collected seven boards on both the offensive and defensive end of the court while matching Benvenuti for the most assists in the game with six. Additionally, Titus blocked a season-high four shots in the game, bringing her into a tie for eighth on Mercer's all-time blocks list with Alex Williams with 61.

Series History
The Bears evened up the all-time series with Florida 4-4 after mounting a 92-82 victory over the Gators on Nov. 15 of last season.

In the first meeting since 1991, KeKe Calloway led the Bears with a 30-point, 10-assist double-double. Shannon Titus (17 pts.), Linnea Rosendal (16 pts.) and Amanda Thompson (14 pts.) all reached double figures in the game.

The series with Florida started with three consecutive wins for Mercer from 1978-81. The Gators won the next four matchups, however, including three in Gainesville.

Scouting the Gators
After starting the season with four straight wins, Florida is coming off its third loss in five games following a 76-66 defeat against Kansas as part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
It was Florida's first loss this season against an unranked opponent as the Gators also lost to #18 Indiana (73-49) on Nov. 22 and #12 Florida State (66-55) on Nov. 26.

The three-headed monster of Lavender Briggs (13.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg), Kiara Smith (13.0 ppg, 5.9 rpg) and Zada Williams (12.0 ppg, 8.6 rpg) set the tone for Florida's scoring offense as well as on the glass. Smith also leads the squad with 34 assists on the season, while Nina Rickards' 13 steals is the most on the team.

The Gators received a vote in the latest USA Today/WBCA Coaches Poll and were selected to finish 12th out of 14 teams in the SEC Preseason Media Poll and last by the coaches.

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.