Strong Start Propels Mercer Past Chattanooga at Home

Saturday, January 25

Macon, Ga.

2 P.M.

Mercer University

4-16,1-4SoCon

Chattanooga

4-16,3-3SoCon

Chattanooga

Mercer

Photo by: Judy Stapleton

Strong Start Propels Mercer Past Chattanooga at Home

1/25/2020 5:28:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Jaron Dougherty scored a career-high 29 points in Mercer’s first conference win of the year.

By: Stephen Waldman

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer women's basketball team picked up its first win of the Southern Conference season with a 55-48 victory over Chattanooga on Saturday afternoon at Hawkins Arena.

The win snapped a 10-game losing skid for the Bears, including an 0-4 start to SoCon play. Mercer led for the entirety of the game for its second wire-to-wire win of the season.

The tandem of Jaron Dougherty (29 points) and Shannon Titus (18 points) set the tone for the Bears, combining for 47 points on the afternoon. Dougherty tallied 12 rebounds (five offensive) for her team-leading sixth double-double of the season to go along with a game-high four blocks. Titus contributed eight rebounds, three blocks two assists in the game.

Rookie Jill Harris once again showed off her great playmaking abilities by dishing out a game-high eight assists. Sierra Votaw aided in the defensive effort as well, creating two blocks and six rebounds.

As a team, the Bears shot 40.4 percent from the floor (23-of-57) while going the entire game without a 3-pointer for the first time since Feb. 1, 2018 against Furman. Mercer outrebounded the Mocs, 36-34, while holding an 18-11 edge in turnovers. Defensively, the home side limited Chattanooga to shoot 33.9 percent (19-of-56) from the floor, including 23.1 percent in the first half (6-of-26).

How It Happened
Mercer sprinted out of the gate and got out to a 12-4 lead thanks to Dougherty and Titus contributing four points each. The Bears went on to lead 18-6 after the first 10 minutes of the game after making 8-of-16 shots. Titus scored 10 points in the quarter while Mercer limited Chattanooga to just three makes from the floor.

The Black and Orange extended their edge to 17 points at 25-8 with 7:48 remaining in the first half following a jumper by Titus. Mercer's stellar defensive effort continued into the second quarter as they once again held the Mocs to shoot 23.1 percent on 3-of-13 shooting. The Bears' defense generated 10 turnovers by halftime, resulting in 10 points for the home squad.

Chattanooga responded in a big way in the third quarter, outscoring the Bears 22-7 in the period. The Mocs cut the lead to one with 3:18 remaining before the start of the final period, but were unable to get over the hump as a free throw by Amoria Neal-Tysor and a jumper from Dougherty put the Bears back up by four heading into the final frame.

The Bears maintained their four-point lead throughout the first five minutes of the fourth quarter before a quick 5-0 run created some breathing room for the home side to secure its first victory of the calendar year.

Quotables – Head coach Susie Gardner
On what a win like this does for the team moving forward…
"Well, it feels much better than the past several games. It's one game, but hopefully we can continue to grow. I think the players – from their standpoint – they needed a bit of confidence, a little bit of a boost. They need to feel like their hard work is getting them where they want to go. We put three good quarters together. We have to put four (together), but hopefully we're making progress."

On having the alumni in the stands for Alumni Day…
"It's always good to see them, especially the ones that I didn't coach in the 1970s and 80s. We appreciate so much what they've done for our program to let do what we do now. It just feels good to win in front of anybody."

On playing with a lead…
"It was a new conversation at halftime. We haven't been up 19 at halftime. We had to talk about that one possession at a time mantra from a different perspective. We've been down, and we've had to fight. We've cut it close, but we haven't been able to win the game. Now all of a sudden, the tables are turned, and Chattanooga is fighting and cut it to one. We had to handle something we had not been involved in for a long time. I don't think we handled it great, but we handled it well enough."

Assistant Coach Ben Wierzba

Player of the Game
Dougherty put together one of the most complete performances of her collegiate career with 29 points, 12 rebounds, four blocks and two steals. The Buford, Ga., native set a new career high in points while coming within one of her personal best in rebounds. She also matched her career high in blocks. Dougherty shot 13-of-21 from the floor, marking her seventh game with at least 10 made baskets from the floor.

Notables
» Mercer halted its 10-game losing skid, the longest such streak since dropping 13 straight in 2011-12.
» The Bears shot better than 40 percent for the third consecutive game.
» Mercer allowed six points in the first quarter, tying its lowest points in a quarter this season.
» Mercer's 19-point lead at halftime tied its largest advantage of the season against a Division I opponent.
» Dougherty scored a career-high 29 points.
» The Buford, Ga., native recorded her team-leading sixth double-double of the year.
» She matched her career high with four blocks while finishing one rebound shy of her personal best.
» Dougherty has scored in double figures in each of the last nine games, including five 20-point performances.
» Harris' eight assists on the game was her second-highest total of the season.
» Votaw tied her career high with six rebounds.
» The Harrells, N.C., native drew her first career start for the Bears.

Up Next
The Bears hit the road next weekend for a pair of games against UNCG and Western Carolina. Mercer opens against the Spartans on Thursday for a 7 p.m. tip before squaring off against the Catamounts on Saturday at 2 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on the ESPN networks.

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.