Bears Control Chattanooga; Advance to SoCon Semis

Thursday, March 5

Asheville, N.C.

3:30 P.M.

Mercer University

Chattanooga (Quarterfinals)

Photo by: Southern Conference

Bears Control Chattanooga; Advance to SoCon Semis

3/5/2020 7:25:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Amoria Neal-Tysor scored a game-high 23 points as the Bears advance to the semifinals

By: Stephen Waldman

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The Mercer women's basketball team fought off a tough Chattanooga squad with a 63-55 victory in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference Tournament on Thursday afternoon at Harrah's Cherokee Center.

Amoria Neal-Tysor was a scoring machine for the Bears with a game-high 23 points on 9-of-18 shooting while collecting five rebounds. Jaron Dougherty was also a threat in the half court as she went 7-of-18 from the floor for 19 points and five rebounds. Jill Harris contributed four points, four assists, three rebounds, three steals and a block in the win.

On the defensive end of the floor, the Bears held the Mocs to 38.6 percent (22-of-57) from the floor while forcing 13 turnovers. Shannon Titus proved why she earned defensive player of the year honors earlier this week with four blocks in limited minutes, while Harris generated a game-high three steals.

How It Happened
After digging a 6-0 hole, a pair of makes by Dougherty cut the deficit to two before Neal-Tysor sank a jumper to tie the game. The two sides battled back-and-forth throughout the remainder of the opening period before Neal-Tysor hit a shot with 26 seconds on the clock to allow the Bears to take the lead into the second quarter.

Mercer stepped up its defense in the second as it held Chattanooga to a game-low 20 percent (3-of-15) from the field, including missing all six of its shots from beyond-the-arc. The Bears held the Mocs without a field goal through the final five-and-a-half-minutes of the first half as they sparked an 11-4 run to take a seven-point edge into the intermission.

The Bears steadily increased their lead to double-digits throughout the third quarter and kept Chattanooga at arm's length throughout the remainder of the contest. The Mocs attempted to come back multiple times in the final 20 minutes of the game, but the combination of key baskets on the offensive end, converting free throws and generating stops in the defensive half court kept Mercer at a six-point advantage for the rest of the game.

Quotables – Head coach Susie Gardner
On opening statement…
"We played so hard. I mean we gave everything we had. It was like a different level, which is what we needed to get the job done. I'm so proud of these guys. We needed everyone tonight. We played without Shannon for most of the second half and Cierra Scott really stepped up for us tonight. I'm proud of how Amoria [Neal-Tysor] shot the ball as well."

On Amoria Neal-Tysor's play…
"Well, you know, she's a streak shooter, and she's been in a missing streak lately. In fact, versus Chatt the last two games, she's 1-for-22. I told (assistant coach) Ben (Wierzba) before the game, 'we need Amoria to be hot this game.' Thankfully she was, she was, so we kept running plays for her."

On Shannon Titus defending Chattanooga's Lakelyn Bouldin…
"Shannon has defended her for all three of Shannon's years, and Shannon has length on her. Lakelyn's a great player. We just had a pretty defender on her, and we're fortunate."

On how proud she is of her team…
"This was a different setting. We came in here a seventh seed, and have had a really, really tough year, but, you know, we persevered. Like I said, we had a good week of practice, and this feels good. This team needed this win tonight."

Player of the Game
Neal-Tysor found her shot early and often for the Bears as the Sanford, N.C., native scored a game-high 23 points. The sophomore guard shot 50 percent on the night as she made 9-of-18 shots. She made Mercer's only three pointer of the night and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line.

Notables
» Mercer earned its first-ever victory over Chattanooga in the Southern Conference Tournament.
» The Bears improved to 6-0 all-time in SoCon quarterfinal games.
» Mercer committed a season-low seven turnovers for the fifth time this season.
» The Bears have won their last seven SoCon Tournament games.
» This was just Mercer's second win of the season when winning the opening tip.
» Mercer improved to 1-0 on the season in neutral site games.
» The Bears are now 8-3 when holding an opponent under 60 points.
» Neal-Tysor posted her fifth 20-point game of the year.
» Titus moved past Teanna Robinson for fourth in program history with 59 blocks this season.
» Chattanooga's six points in the second quarter marked the sixth time Mercer held an opponent to six points in a quarter this season.

Up Next
The Bears advanced to the Southern Conference Tournament semifinals where they will face No. 3 UNCG on Friday at 1:15 p.m. at Hararah's Cherokee Center in Asheville, N.C.

Follow the Bears
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