Mercer Shows Fight in Loss Against Samford

Saturday, February 15

Macon, Ga.

2 P.M.

Mercer University

6-19,3-7SoCon

Samford

12-13,7-3SoCon

Samford

Mercer

Photo by: Judy Stapleton

2/15/2020 8:39:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Shannon Titus moved into fifth all-time with her 90th career block against Samford

By: Stephen Waldman

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer women's basketball team battled throughout the entire afternoon but was unable to come away with the victory as they fell to Samford, 60-54, on Saturday afternoon at Hawkins Arena.

The Bears had trouble on the glass as they were outrebounded, 45-33, as well as on the free throw line. Mercer committed 18 fouls to Samford's 10 with the Bulldogs making the host pay for it by going 13-of-15 from the charity stripe.

Mercer's defense was much more prevalent than in its first meeting with as the Bears limited Samford to a 33.9 shooting percentage (21-of-62) from the floor down from 54.9 percent on Jan. 18. The Bears generated three steals off nine turnovers and blocked seven shots in the game.

Junior Shannon Titus was once again one of the key contributors for the Bears, posting team highs in points (13), rebounds (9) and blocks (3). Amoria Neal-Tysor added 12 points, three rebounds and four assists, while Summer Pahl recorded her third double-digit point performance with 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Both Jaron Dougherty and Jill Harris scored eight points each with Dougherty collecting nine rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal. Harris dished out a team-high six assists and added a steal in 35 minutes of action.

How It Happened
The Bears and Bulldogs not only traded punches throughout the first 10 minutes of the game, but saw the lead swap back-and-forth between the two squads in the first quarter. Mercer managed to head into the second with a three-point advantage, 14-11, after Neal-Tysor drained a 3-point buzzer beater.

The trend continued into the second quarter as the two teams once again jousted for positioning, but neither side was able to create a comfortable lead. A 7-2 run by the visitors at the end of the first half saw them take a five-point advantage into the break at 26-21.

Mercer battled back in the third quarter as it slowly chipped away at the deficit and eventually recaptured the lead with roughly four-and-a-half-minutes remaining in the third. After the Bears took a 37-35 lead with 9:38 on the clock in the fourth quarter, a 12-2 run by Samford provided the visitors with an eight-point edge with 3:13 remaining. The Bears made an attempt at a comeback, but they were unable to draw even as the Bulldogs came away with the win.

Quotables – Head coach Susie Gardner
On the difference in the game…
"I thought we had a good defensive game plan. We held Natalie Armstrong to 4-for-12 shooting. The key to the game was the first half and their offensive rebounds. They got 48 percent of their offensive rebounds in the first half and were just outhustling us to the ball.
"I never know who is going to score the ball on our team, and, unfortunately, Jaron [Dougherty] and Shannon [Titus] did not have great shooting nights for us."

Player of the Game
Titus joined an elite list of Mercer Bears this afternoon as she became just the fifth player in program history to record 90 or more blocks in her career. The Johns Creek, Ga., native scored a team-high 13 points and added nine rebounds to match Dougherty for the team lead. She blocked a total of three blocks in the contest.

Notables
» Mercer saw its three-game home winning streak snapped.
» Samford became the first SoCon opponent to defeat Mercer twice in the same season since Chattanooga in 2016-17.
» Titus became the fifth player in program history with at least 90 blocked shots in her career with 92 to her credit.
» She now has 42 blocks on the season, tying Jessica Miller for ninth on Mercer's single-season list.
» Titus recorded her 40th career double-digit scoring effort.
» Pahl matched her career-high of 10 points for the third time this season.
» Neal-Tysor made multiple 3-pointers for the ninth time this year.

Up Next
The Bears close out the road portion of their 2019-20 regular season slate as they head to the Volunteer State to take on Chattanooga and ETSU next week. Mercer opens against the Mocs on Thursday at 7 p.m. before challenging ETSU on Saturday at 2 p.m.

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.