Mercer Begins Road Trip at Western Kentucky on Friday

Friday, December 18

Bowling Green, Ky.

7 P.M. ET

Mercer University

Western Kentucky

Photo by: Kayla Davis

Mercer Begins Road Trip at Western Kentucky on Friday

12/17/2020 7:10:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Mercer kicks off its six-game road swing at WKU on Friday at 7 p.m. ET

By: Stephen Waldman

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer Women's Basketball team will begin its six-game road swing on Friday as it travels to Western Kentucky to take on the Lady Toppers at 7 p.m. (ET) on ESPN+.

BEAR NECESSITIES
Date: Friday, Dec. 18, 2020 | 7 p.m. ET
Teams: Mercer (4-3) at Western Kentucky (1-3)
Location: Bowling Green, Ky. | E.A. Diddle Arena
Live Stats: wkusports.com/livestats
TV: ESPN+
TV Talent: Brett Williams
Twitter Updates: @Mercer_WBB
Game Notes: Mercer | Western Kentucky

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.

Titus Closing In on 1,000 Points
Senior Shannon Titus is closing in on becoming the 27th member of the 1,000-point club in program history. The Johns Creek, Ga., native has scored 932 points throughout her career in the Orange and Black, putting her 68 points shy of reaching the milestone.

Top Defensive Performances of 2020-21
The Bears put together one of the best defensive performances in Division I basketball this season when they held the South Carolina State Lady Bulldogs to 27 points in a 77-27 win on Tuesday. It was the third-fewest points allowed against a Division I opponent this season and only the fourth time a D1 team scored under 30 points in a game.

Pts. (Score) School-Opponent Date
23 (23-79) UMass Lowell at UConn 12/12/20
26 (26-71) Samford at Indiana 12/3/20
27 (27-77) S.C. State at Mercer 12/15/20
28 (28-98) S.C. State at UNC 12/3/20

The Season of Giving
The Bears' offense has been distributing the ball effectively throughout the early going in the 2020-21 slate, dishing out the 11th-most assists nationally with 114. Jill Harris (27), Amoria Neal-Tysor (26), Jada Lewis (19) and Shannon Titus (19) have been spreading the ball around at a high level for Mercer, combining for 91 of those 114 assists. Harris and Neal-Tysor, who rank 25th and 29th in the nation, respectively, are just one of four pairs of teammates who have both recorded at least 26 assists, along with Abilene Christian (Madi Miller, 28 | Kamryn Mraz, 28), Arkansas (Destiny Slocum, 28 | Makayla Daniels, 26) and Marquette (Jordan King, 26 | Selena Lott, 26).

Nothing She C(ANT) Do
Junior Amoria Neal-Tysor has started this season playing some of her best basketball, leading the team in scoring (118 pts./16.9 ppg) and 3-pointers made (18) while ranking second in assists (26). She has scored the 14th-most points in Division I this season, while draining the 17nd-most 3-pointers in the country.

The Sanford, N.C., native has been on fire to start the year, reaching double figures five times, including three 20-point performances. In Mercer's 71-68 overtime win at UAB on Dec. 10, Neal-Tysor scored a career-high 33 points which was the most by a Mercer player since KeKe Calloway's 40-point effort at Furman on Jan. 6, 2018. She has connected on three or more shots from long range on four occasions and has recorded three or more assists in five games.

Bears Against Conference USA
Mercer sports 37-43 record in 90 all-time meetings against current members of Conference USA. The Bears own the most wins over Florida Atlantic (22-14), their most common opponent from MU's days in the ASUN. Mercer also has multiple wins over UAB (4-4), Charlotte (3-3), Florida International (3-22), Marshall (2-2) and Southern Miss (2-3).

The Bears have split the series with Old Dominion (1-1) and are winless against Rice (0-2) and Western Kentucky (0-2). Additionally, Mercer has never played Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee State, North Texas, UTEP or UTSA.

Last Time Out
Christmas came early for the Mercer as the Bears picked up 50-point victory over South Carolina State, 77-27, Tuesday evening in Hawkins Arena.

The win was Mercer's second victory by at least 50 points this season after defeating Covenant by 53 (78-25) on Dec. 5. The Bears supported the Merrie Christmas Project by allowing fans receive free admission to the game if they brought an unwrapped toy to donate.

The Bears took control of the game early and held S.C. State to 10-of-48 (20.8 percent) from the floor in the game while forcing a season-high 26 turnovers with 14 steals. The Bears converted those turnovers into points as they outscored SCSU 25-3 on fast breaks and 40-1 off turnovers. Mercer outrebounded the Lady Bulldogs, 48-32, including 19 offensive boards that resulted in 19 second-chance points.

Offensively, Mercer shot 41.8 percent (28-of-67) from the field and 26.1 percent (6-of-23) from beyond-the-arc. The Bears took care of the ball, turning the ball over just eight times in the game for their third consecutive contest with fewer than 10 giveaways. Juniors Jaron Dougherty (19 pts./8 reb.) and Amoria Neal-Tysor (17 pts./4 ast./4 stl.) paced the Bears' scoring efforts, while redshirt senior Jada Lewis added 16 points and five assists. Sophomore Jill Harris added a game-high seven assists, her most in a game this season. Senior Shannon Titus scored seven points and brought down seven rebounds while creating two steals. Redshirt junior Kiana Barkhoff was a blocking machine in the game, denying a personal best four shots for the most in the game.

Series History
Mercer will meet Western Kentucky on the hardwood for just the third time in program history on Friday and first in the Blue Grass State. The series started on Nov. 24, 2017 in Atlanta at the GSU Thanksgiving Classic when WKU claimed a 67-62 win. The Bears and Lady Toppers squared off on Nov. 8, 2019, last season when Western Kentucky left Hawkins Arena with a 75-62 victory. Jaron Dougherty posted the first double-double of her career in last season's contest against the Lady Toppers with 26 points and 13 rebounds.

Scouting the Lady Toppers
Western Kentucky enters Friday's matchup boasting a 1-3 record on the young season and is coming off its first win of the 2020-21 campaign. The Lady Toppers took down Bellarmine, 82-49, on Wednesday after dropping contests to Tennessee (87-47), Ball State (58-54) and Little Rock (63-47).

The Lady Toppers were picked to finish fifth out of 14 teams in the Conference USA Preseason Poll behind Middle Tennessee State, Rice, Old Dominion and Charlotte. The duo of Ally Collett and Meral Abdelgawad have produced for WKU through the first four games with Collett leading the squad with 11.8 points per game, eight makes from 3-point range and 47 total points. Abdelgawad ranks second on the team in scoring with 11.3 points per game and 45 total points while pacing WKU with 36 rebounds (9.0 per game) and 10 steals.

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.