Mercer Scores Season-High 87 Points in Win at UNCW

Tuesday, December 29

Wilmington, N.C.

4 P.M.

Mercer University

6-3,0-0SoCon

UNC Wilmington

3-3,0-0CAA

Mercer

UNCW

Photo by: Joe Browning/UNCW Athletics

Mercer Scores Season-High 87 Points in Win at UNCW

12/29/2020 7:54:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Shannon Titus moved into third on Mercer’s career blocks list with 126

By: Stephen Waldman

WILMINGTON, N.C. – The Mercer women's basketball team capped the non-conference portion of its 2020-21 schedule with an emphatic 87-51 road victory over UNC Wilmington on Tuesday afternoon at Trask Coliseum.

Mercer's defense continues to lock down the opposition as the Bears held the Seahawks to 16-of-58 (27.6 percent) from the floor, marking the third consecutive game they held the opposition under 33 percent from the field. Mercer also held UNCW to shooting just 21.7 percent (5-of-23) from long range. The tenacity of the defensive unit also contributed in the offensive output with 33 points on the fast break and 32 off the home team's 25 turnovers.

The Bears' offense looked as good as it has all year, posting season highs in points (87), field goals (37) and field goal percentage (53.6). Four players reached double figures for Mercer with Amoria Neal-Tysor dropping a game-high 21 points. Jada Lewis (19 pts.), Jaron Dougherty (18 pts.) and Shannon Titus (14 pts.) also reached double-digit points in the contest. The four-headed monster not only scored at a high volume, but they did so in an efficient manner as all four players had field goal percentages that were higher than their season totals prior to the game.

Dougherty collected a team-high nine rebounds in the game, while dishing out three assists and snagging three steals. Titus led the squad in steals (5) and blocks (3) while adding eight rebounds and two assists. Jill Harris (6 ast.) and Lewis (5 ast.) combined for 11 of Mercer's 23 assists on the night with a total of seven players recording an assist in the game.

How It Happened
Mercer got off to a fast start as the visitors scored 8-of-the-first-9 points in the game through the first three minutes. The Seahawks responded in a big way by scoring 10 unanswered points over the next 2:25 to move ahead, 11-8. A layup by Amoria Neal-Tysor ended Mercer's scoring drought while back-to-back buckets from Dougherty put the Bears back in the lead, 14-12. After allowing UNCW to creep back into the game, the Bears ended the opening frame on a 10-2 run as they led by five heading into the second quarter.

The pesky UNCW squad knotted things up at 18-all before Mercer's offense caught fire. The Bears erupted for a 25-3 run that lasted nearly the entire quarter, including scoring 20 consecutive points over a seven-minute stretch to create some separation between themselves and the Seahawks. Mercer utilized its quickness and pressured UNCW into turning the ball over eight times over that run while shooting 1-of-9 from the floor, including 1-of-5 from 3-point range. The visitors, however, received a balanced scoring attack from Dougherty (6 pts.), Harris (5 pts.), Lewis (5 pts.), Neal-Tysor (5 pts.) and Titus (4 pts.) while shooting 8-of-12 from the field, 2-of-3 from beyond-the-arc and 5-of-7 from the charity stripe.

Taking a 19-point advantage into the break! #DefineYourMoment | #RoarTogether pic.twitter.com/igsA2u4tZb
— Mercer Women's Basketball (@Mercer_WBB) December 29, 2020

The Bears struggled a bit in the third quarter as UNCW attempted to fight its way back into the contest. The Seahawks managed to bring Mercer's edge down to 12 points with 2:51 remaining in the third quarter, but that is as close as the home side would come to evening the score. Mercer pushed its lead back to a comfortable 17 points heading into the fourth quarter thanks to a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Neal-Tysor. Following a missed free throw by UNCW with 4.7 seconds remaining, Titus gathers the rebound and quickly fires it to Neal-Tysor. The Sanford, N.C., native bolts up the court weaving her way through a pair of Seahawk defenders, before pulling up from the top of the key and finds nothing but net as time expired in the period.

🚨𝐁𝐔𝐙𝐙𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑🚨

Mori drives to the top of the key and knocks down a 3 as time expires in the third!#DefineYourMoment | @bballmori10 pic.twitter.com/ubWjmjkeej
— Mercer Women's Basketball (@Mercer_WBB) December 29, 2020

Mercer took that momentum into the fourth and scored the first 11 points of the final period to go up 69-41 en route to its sixth win of the season.

Quotables – Head coach Susie Gardner
On tonight's win…
"We are turning into a defensive-minded team. I think with that comes tips, deflections, steals, and then hopefully transition layups. We've really emphasized that as of late, and today it payed off."

On the team's offensive production…
"They played us in a zone for pretty much the entire game, and Jaron was hot to start the game. We had four players in double-digits for scoring tonight, and it's always good to have that type of balance. Any time a team plays you in a zone, they're daring you to shoot. Fortunately for us, we were able to knock down some shots and get some rebounds. Everyone really played hard and played well, and I'm really pleased with the way our non-conference season has gone. I thought we've challenged ourselves, learned about our team and had great energy and enthusiasm. It's been a really good preseason leading into the Southern Conference."

On the long layoff before SoCon play begins…
"I'm really ok with us having some time off because of how the schedule fell this year. We typically have some time in the month of December for me to make some adjustments and to tweak some things in our team strategy, but we didn't have that this year because of the number of games we played this month. This will be our opportunity to work on Mercer instead of worrying about our next opponent."

Player of the Game
Shannon Titus continues to display her senior leadership and versatility as she filled up the score sheet with 14 points, eight rebounds, five steals, three blocks and two assists. The Johns Creek, Ga., native was an efficient 6-of-9 from the field in the game as well as a perfect 2-of-2 from the free throw line. Additionally, Titus took sole possession of third place on Mercer's career blocks list with 126 denials in her career, while also moving within 41 points of becoming the 27th member of the program's 1,000-point club.

Notables
» This was the first-ever meeting between Mercer and UNC Wilmington.
» The Bears improved to 3-1 against the CAA under the direction of head coach Susie Gardner.
» Mercer enters SoCon play with a conference-best 6-3 record.
» The Bears won the turnover battle for the eighth time in nine games this season.
» Mercer scored a season-high 87 points while shooting a season-high 53.6 percent from the field.
» Jaron Dougherty reached double figures for the eighth consecutive game and 30th time in her career.
» Dougherty had her fifth straight game with at least eight field goals and eight rebounds.
» Amoria Neal-Tysor posted her 25th-career 10+ point game and her ninth 20-point performance.
» Neal-Tysor tallied her fifth game with at least three 3-pointers this year.
» Shannon Titus scored in double figures for the 50th game of her career.
» Titus moved into sole possession of third place on Mercer's all-time blocks list with 126 in her career.
» With 14 points tonight, Titus is now 41 points away from becoming the 27th member of Mercer's 1,000-point club.
» Titus has pulled down at least seven rebounds in six games this year.
» Jada Lewis collected the 200th rebound of her career in the game.
» Jill Harris dished out six assists for the fourth time this season.
» Kiana Barkhoff gathered a season-high five rebounds, one shy of matching her career high.
» Naomi Van Nes tallied at least five rebounds for the fourth time this season.
» Sydneey Boykin notched a season-high three assists.

Up Next
The Bears will have a 10-day cooling off period before starting SoCon play at Samford on Jan. 9. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m. (ET) in Birmingham, Ala., and will be broadcast on ESPN+.

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.