Bears Outlast UNCG on Thursday, 53-43

Thursday, January 14

Greensboro, N.C.

7 P.M.

Mercer University

7-4,1-1SoCon

UNC Greensboro

2-9,0-2SoCon

Mercer

UNC Greensboro

Photo by: Stephen Waldman

1/14/2021 9:58:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Amoria Neal-Tysor scored a game-high 25 points

By: Stephen Waldman

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Mercer women's basketball team picked up a resilient 53-43 victory at UNCG on Thursday evening at Fleming Gymnasium.

Samford, N.C., native Amoria Neal-Tysor enjoyed being back in her home state, going for 25 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the field. She added three rebounds and three steals in the victory. Jaron Dougherty and Jada Lewis joined Neal-Tysor in double figures for the Bears with 10 points apiece with Dougherty adding 10 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season.

Mercer had a strong defensive showing in the first of two meetings against the Spartans, holding the home team to 25.9 percent (14-of-54) from the floor and 28.6 percent (6-of-21) from 3-point range. The Bears won the turnover battle, 19-15, for the 10th time in 11 games this season, while generating 13 steals and five blocks.

How It Happened
After both sides defended well for the first two minutes of the game, the Bears' offense came to life and scored the game's first six points in a 71-second span. Neal-Tysor opened the scoring with a jumper before Titus tallied the next four with a pair of free throws and a layup. UNCG managed to make it a four-point game, but eight-straight points from Neal-Tysor stretched Mercer's lead to 12 points by the end of the first quarter.

That lead grew to 17 points with 5:10 remaining in the first half before the home side regrouped during the media timeout. The Spartans started to chip away before the intermission as they trimmed the Bears' lead to nine at the break, 30-21. The lead was down to four by the end of the third quarter with the court starting to tilt in the home team's favor.

UNCG's Tori Powell found her perimeter shot in the second half and hit a 3-pointer with 7:00 on the clock to cut Mercer's lead down to one, 42-41. That is as close as the Spartans would come, however, as Neal-Tysor turned a steal on the defensive end of the court into a transition bucket to give Mercer some breathing room prior to the final media timeout. The two teams traded defensive stops before Neal-Tysor drained a triple to put the Bears up by six, 47-41.

Mercer iced the game in the final minute of play as a defensive stop preceded Jill Harris' clutch layup in the waning seconds of the shot clock to give Mercer an eight-point edge with 45 seconds remaining.

Quotables – Head coach Susie Gardner
On the team's effort…
"We got off to a great start in the first quarter. Both Jaron and Shannon only played five minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, so I was really pleased with the way Sierra Votaw and Sydneey Boykin came in and played minutes for us. We were able to build a lead, but you've got to give credit to Greensboro for coming back. They kept fighting, and this is just how conference games are going to be. They cut it to one and we had to get stops. It wasn't so much us getting stops as much as us needing a response on the offensive end. I mean, we held them to 43 points, so our defense was there. We've got to have more scoring from other players, but I'm really proud of our defensive effort. We're a pretty good offensive team that didn't have a good night on offense, and that was because of UNCG's defense."

On Amoria's 25-point performance…
"Amoria played hard and played well. You can always tell when her shot is falling, and tonight was one of those nights so we kept going to her. With the quick turnaround of playing them again on Saturday I'm sure they're going to watch the film and pay special attention to her. I was really proud of her shot making because she was the only one who had a great offensive night statistically."

On Jill's play in the final minute…
"I think Jill knows her role. We've had conversations with everyone on the team as to what their roles are, and, after playing the non-conference season, your roles have to be defined. Jill is a great defensive player. She made a huge stop at the end, and her layup was great timing.

Player of the Game
Amoria Neal-Tysor carried the Bears' offense throughout the contest, scoring a game-high 25 points on 10-of-18 shooting. It was her second time scoring at least 25 this season after the Sanford, N.C., native went for a career-high 33 points at UAB on Dec. 10. Neal-Tysor finished 2-of-5 from beyond-the-arc with three rebounds and three steals.

Notables
» Mercer picked up its first SoCon win of the season.
» The Bears snapped a three-game losing skid to UNCG and improved to 13-3 in the all-time series.
» Mercer held UNCG to 43 points in the game, its fewest points allowed against a SoCon opponent since a 55-32 victory over Western Carolina in the conference quarterfinals on March 7, 2019.
» The Bears held an opponent to fewer than 50 points for the third time this season.
» Neal-Tysor scored a game-high 25 points.
» Neal-Tysor tallied her 10th career 20-point performance and fifth of the season.
» Dougherty recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
» Dougherty has reached double figures in scoring in each of the last 10 games.
» Lewis reached double digit points for the eighth time as a member of the Bears.
» Shannon Titus posted three steals for the sixth time of her senior campaign.
» Allie Thayne earned her first start of the season.

Up Next
The Bears wrap up their weekend series at UNCG to close out their five-game road trip on Saturday. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. with the game being broadcast on ESPN+.

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