Mercer Heads to Clemson for First Road Trip

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer Women's Basketball team hits the road for the first time this season as it prepares to take on the undefeated Clemson Tigers on Wednesday at noon at Littlejohn Coliseum.

BEAR NECESSITIES
Date: Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020 | 12 p.m.
Teams: Mercer (1-1) at Clemson (3-0)
Location: Clemson, S.C. | Littlejohn Coliseum
Live Stats: clemsontigers.com
TV: ACC Network Extra
TV Talent: Peter Yanity and Jim Davis
Twitter Updates: @Mercer_WBB
Game Notes: Mercer | Clemson

50 Years of Mercer Basketball
The Mercer women's basketball team is celebrating 50 years of competition throughout the 2020-21 season as the team is going to highlight a different decade each month from October to February for their accomplishments and the impact they made on the program.

Mercer's inaugural season was in 1970-71 when the Bears won their first-ever game against Wesleyan, 45-23.

Throughout the last half century, the Bears have collected multiple championship banners, including nine regular season conference titles and seven tournament crowns. Mercer has also won two regional tournaments and has been to the postseason 14 times.

This Girl is on Fire!
Junior Amoria Neal-Tysor has been on a tear through the early portion of the 2020-21 season as she scored 22 points in the opener against Georgia before going for 23 versus Tennessee State. This is the first time in her career that she has posted back-to-back games with at least 20 points.

The Sanford, N.C., native has shot the ball well in the early going, boasting a field goal percentage of 48.6 (18-of-37) and a 47.4 percentage (9-of-19) on 3-pointers. Neal-Tysor leads the SoCon in makes for both field goals and 3-pointers, in addition to a number of other categories. Her 18 field goals made are the 17th-most in the country, while her nine treys are the seventh most.

Frienemies
Head coach Susie Gardner and Clemson head coach Amanda Butler have a long-standing relationship that begins in the outskirts of Nashville. Both Gardner and Butler attended Mt. Juliet High School in Tennessee before going on to play collegiate ball in the SEC (Gardner at Georgia, Butler at Florida).

The duo has coached together on multiple occasions, first at Austin Peay in their home state of Tennessee. Gardner earned her first head coaching gig in 1996 and brought Butler on staff as an assistant. Butler left for the University of Charlotte in 2001 and eventually returned to her alma mater as head coach in 2007. Gardner brought a wealth of knowledge to Butler's staff and the Gators team until 2010 when she was hired as the head coach here at Mercer.

Gardner will be looking to even the score against Butler after the Tigers took the first meeting between the two friends, 65-61, on Dec. 15 last season at Hawkins Arena.

Bears Against the ACC
Mercer sports an all-time record of 21-49 against current members of the ACC. Florida State (8-8) and Georgia Tech (6-16) are the only teams to play the Bears more than 10 times, while Clemson (2-5), Miami (2-5) are the only other ACC squads that Mercer has beaten multiple times. The Bears have also picked up wins over Pittsburgh (1-1) and North Carolina (1-3) and Wake Forest (1-4).

Mercer is winless against Louisville (0-1), N.C. State (0-1), Virginia (0-1), Notre Dame (0-2) and Virginia Tech (0-2) while having never shared the court with Boston College, Duke or Syracuse.

Last Time Out
A 50-point second half propelled Mercer to its first victory of the season with a convincing 81- 61 win over Tennessee State at Hawkins Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Mercer was all over the glass on both ends of the court, outrebounding TSU 52-38 in the game. The Bears' defense was active all afternoon as they generated 10 steals on 19 forced turnovers and blocked nine shots. Defensively, Mercer held TSU to just 20-of-65 (30.8 percent) from the floor and 2-of-12 (16.7 percent) on threes. The Orange and Black shot an impressive 46.6 percent (34-of-73) from the floor in the game, including a 7-of-18 (38.9 percent) performance from beyond-the-arc.

Individually, junior Jaron Dougherty stole the show for the Bears as she put up an astounding 25 points, 19 rebounds, four blocks and three steals while playing all 40 minutes of the game. The Buford, Ga., native shot 12-of-23 in the game, including making 6-of-11 attempts in the second half. She became the first Mercer player with 15 points and 15 rebounds in a double-double since Amanda Thompson's 21-point, 16-rebound performance at Wofford on Jan. 31, 2019. Fellow junior Amoria Neal-Tysor contributed her second 20-point performance in as many games with 23 points, in addition to posting game highs with seven assists and four steals.

Series History
Mercer and Clemson have renewed their competitive vows recently as they will be playing against one another for the second consecutive season after having not met since 1981. Mercer won back-to-back meetings after Clemson had won the first four games.

Last season, the Tigers escaped Hawkins Arena with a 65-61 victory on Dec. 15. thanks to an Amari Robinson double-double (13 pts./10 reb.). Jaron Dougherty led all players with 22 points on 11-of-20 shooting and had seven rebounds, while Shannon Titus recorded a double-double with 11 points and 14 boards, seven of which came on the offensive glass. She dished out six assists in the game and added four blocks.

Scouting the Lady Tigers
Clemson come out the gates red hot as the Tigers boast an undefeated 3-0 record while averaging 85.0 points per game. The Tigers were picked to finish 13th of 15 teams in the preseason ACC poll by both the coaches and the media.

Senior Kendall Spray is the NCAA's active 3-point leader with 309 makes from beyond-the-arc in her career. Her 14.0 points per game ranks third on the team behind Delicia Washington (16.3 ppg) and Gabby Elliott (14.7 ppg). Washington is the leading rebounder on the team, averaging 7.0 per game, while Tylar Bennett (6.3 rpg) and Elliott (6.0 rpg) are also above six boards per contest.

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.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jaron Dougherty

Amoria Neal-Tysor

Shannon Titus

Footer

Mercer University Athletics