Mercer Begins SoCon Tourney Against Chattanooga

Thursday, March 5

Asheville, N.C.

3:30 P.M.

Mercer University

Chattanooga (Quarterfinals)

Photo by: Judy Stapleton

Mercer Begins SoCon Tourney Against Chattanooga

3/4/2020 5:02:00 PM | Women's Basketball

The Bears and Mocs will square off at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday in Asheville

By: Stephen Waldman

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer Women's Basketball team will begin the 2020 Southern Conference Tournament against No. 2 Chattanooga at Harrah's Cherokee Center on Thursday at 3:30 p.m.

The Bears and Mocs will be the third of four quarterfinals on the day with the winner advancing to face the winner between No. 3 UNCG and No. 6 ETSU.

BEAR NECESSITIES
Date: Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020 | 7 p.m.
Round: Quarterfinals
Teams: #7 Mercer (7-22, 4-10 SoCon) vs. #2 Chattanooga (11-17, 10-4 SoCon)
Location: Asheville, N.C. | Harrah's Cherokee Center
Live Stats: SoConSports.com/LiveStats
TV: ESPN+
TV Talent: Pete Yanity (pxp), Robin Muller (color) and Erin Summers (sideline)
Radio: 100.9 "The Creek", Sports Mic
Radio Talent: Rick Cameron
Twitter Updates: @Mercer_WBB
Game Notes: Mercer | Chattanooga

Titus Named Defensive Player of the Year
Junior Shannon Titus was named the Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Year by the coaches on Tuesday. The Johns Creek, Ga., native has been a catalyst for the Bears' defense all season as she not only guards the opposing team's best player night-in and night-out, but she also leads the conference in blocks (55) and steals (81). Titus ranks 18th nationally in steals and 38th in blocks as the only player in Division I with at least 50 blocks and 75 steals this year. She is also the first player in program history to accomplish that feat.

Harris Earns All-Freshman Honors
Rookie Jill Harris has been one of the most selfless players for the Bears in the 2019-20 season with a team-high 118 assists on the year. The Navarre, Fla., native was named to the SoCon All-Freshman Team by both the coaches and Media on Tuesday as she ranks fourth in the conference in assists and second in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.2). Harris' 2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio is the second best in the conference and 35th nationally while ranking second among freshmen.

Her 10-assist performance against ETSU on Feb. 22 pushed her over the century mark on the season as she became the first Mercer freshman to record 100 assists in a season since 2010-11 when Sharnea Boykin accomplished that feat.

Dougherty, Titus Garner All-SoCon Recognition
After leading the Bears throughout the entire season, Jaron Dougherty and Shannon Titus were recognized by the SoCon on Tuesday as they earned All-SoCon honors. Dougherty collected first team honors from the coaches for the first time in her career, while being named to the second team by the media. Titus garnered second team accolades for the second consecutive season.

Dougherty has been one of the premier scorers in the conference this season, ranking third with 15.4 points per game. The Buford, Ga., native leads the conference and ranks 16th nationally in field goals made with 202, while also ranking third in blocks with 43. She leads the Bears with eight doubledoubles on the year.
Titus has been a swiss army knife for Mercer this season as she does a little bit of everything. In addition to averaging 14.2 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, Titus leads the Bears with 81 steals and 55 blocks. She is also second on the team with 60 assists.

Awakening From Hibernation
The Bears have looked like a new team since Feb. 6 when they started the second half of its SoCon schedule. Mercer is 3-4 over its last seven games and has been competitive in each one. The Bears have pulled off wins against Wofford (54-53), Furman (61-55) and Western Carolina (60-54) over that stretch, while only one of their losses has come by double digits.

Mercer has started fast throughout this span of games as it led after the first quarter in six of the seven contests.

Climbing The Leaderboard
Junior Shannon Titus has been climbing the program's all-time blocks list since the start of the season. The Johns Creek, Ga., native now has 105 blocked shots in her career which puts her in fourth place. Titus has also cracked the top-5 in single season blocks with 55 and in single season steals with 81. Titus is the only player in program history to record at least 50 blocks and 75 steals in the same season and is the only player in Division I basketball to accomplish this feat during the 2019-20 season.

Career Blocked Shots

Rk.	Name (Years)	Blocks
1.	Teanna Robinson (2011-15)	258
2.	Tanya Kessenich (2002-06)	184
3.	Rachel Selph (2015-19)	123
4.	Shannon Titus (2017-Pres.)	105

Single-Season Blocked Shots

Rk.	Name (Season)	Blocks
1.	Teanna Robinson (2013-14)	114
2.	Teanna Robinson (2014-15	86
3.	Tanya Kessenich (2004-05)	66
4.	Teanna Robinson (2012-13)	55
	Shannon Titus (2019-20)	55

Single-Season Steals

Rk.	Name (Season)	Blocks
1.	Courtney Ford (2009-10)	98
2.	Jessica Miller (2004-05)	83
3.	Christy Cogley (1996-97)	81
	Shannon Titus (2019-20)	81

Last Time Out
Mercer fell in its regular season finale against UNCG, 60-50, on Saturday afternoon.

The Bears finished the game with an 18-9 edge in the turnover battle while forcing 10 steals. The defense limited UNCG to shooting 37.7 percent (20-of-53) in the game, although the Spartans managed to make 53.3 percent (8-of-15) of their 3-point attempts.

Jaron Dougherty scored a team-high 19 points while collecting seven rebounds. Shannon Titus added 14 points, six rebounds and five steals while dishing out three assists and blocking two shots. Summer Pahl had another solid game on the boards as she gathered a game-high 13 total rebounds and nine on the offensive glass, in addition to setting a new personal best with four assists. She added three steals in the game. Rookie Jill Harris posted her second double-digit point game with 10 points with a season-high five field goals.

Series History
While Mercer is 7-17 all-time against Chattanooga, the Bears have beaten the Mocs in five-of-thelast-six meetings.

The two teams split the regular season series this year with Mercer earning a 55-48 victory on Jan. 25 at Hawkins Arena before dropping a 58-52 decision on the road no Feb. 20. Jaron Dougherty (29 pts./12 reb.) and Shannon Titus (18 points) set the tone for the Bears in the first game as Dougherty collected her sixth double-double of the season. In game two, it was Titus (20 pts./11 reb.) and Summer Pahl (14 pts./10 reb.) who served as the primary contributors for Mercer as Pahl recorded her first career double-double.

Scouting the Mocs
Chattanooga is one of the hottest teams in the Southern Conference as the Mocs have rattled off five straight wins entering the tournament. The Mocs defeated Furman (69-63), Wofford (51-49), Mercer (58-52), Samford (64-58) and ETSU (6965) to close out the regular season and finish in a tie for the best conference record at 10-4.

Lakelyn Bouldin won the Ann Lashley Inspiration Award and earned third team honors from the SoCon, while NaKeia Burks received all-defensive team honors and Dena Jarrells landed on the all-freshman team.

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.