Bears Host Chattanooga for Weekend Series

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer Women's Basketball team remains at home this weekend as it prepares for two games against Chattanooga on Thursday (7 p.m.) and Saturday (2 p.m.) at Hawkins Arena.

BEAR NECESSITIES
Date: Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021 | 7 p.m.
Teams: Mercer (10-4, 4-1 SoCon) vs. Chattanooga (8-6, 3-2 SoCon)
Location: Macon, Ga. | Hawkins Arena
Tickets: bit.ly/3r2U8b4 (code: 478DAY)
Live Stats: mercerbears.com/livestats
TV: ESPN+
TV Talent: Avery Braxton and Sybil Blalock
Twitter Updates: @Mercer_WBB
Game Notes: Mercer | Chattanooga
Hawkins Arena Protocols: Click Here
Promotion: Student Appreciation/478 Day

Date: Saturday, Jan. 30, 2021 | 2 p.m.
Teams: Mercer (11-4, 5-1 SoCon) vs. Chattanooga (8-7, 3-3 SoCon)
Location: Macon, Ga. | Hawkins Arena
Tickets: bit.ly/3gRCzWP
Live Stats: mercerbears.com/livestats
TV: ESPN+
TV Talent: Bryce Koon and Sybil Blalock
Twitter Updates: @Mercer_WBB
Game Notes: Mercer | Chattanooga
Hawkins Arena Protocols: Click Here
Promotion: Faculty/Staff Day

50 Years of Mercer Basketball
The Mercer women's basketball team is celebrating 50 years of competition throughout the 2020-21 season as the team is going to highlight a different decade each month from October to February for their accomplishments and the impact they made on the program.

Mercer's inaugural season was in 1970-71 when the Bears won their first-ever game against Wesleyan, 45-23.

Throughout the last half century, the Bears have collected multiple championship banners, including nine regular season conference titles and seven tournament crowns. Mercer has also won two regional tournaments and has been to the postseason 14 times.

Titus Joins 1,000-Point Club
Senior Shannon Titus became the 27th member of the 1,000-point club in program history on Saturday after scoring a season-high 23 points against Furman. The Johns Creek, Ga., native currently ranks 25th on Mercer's all-time scoring list with 1,015 points.

Pair of Bears with 1,000 Points
Redshirt senior Jada Lewis (1,203 pts.) and senior Shannon Titus (1,015 pts.) are two of the 145 players in Division I to eclipse the 1,000-point milestone in their careers.

Mercer is one of 30 schools in the nation with multiple 1,000-point scorers on its team, along with: Air Force, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Bradley, Clemson, East Carolina, Fresno State, Gonzaga, Indiana, Iowa State, Maine, N.C. State, North Carolina, Northern Arizona, Northern Iowa, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pacific, Saint Peter's, South Alabama, Southern Illinois, Tennessee Tech, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Tulane, VCU, Virginia Tech and Youngstown State.

Packing a Punch
Juniors Amoria Neal-Tysor (242 pts./17.3 ppg) and Jaron Dougherty (237 pts./16.9 ppg) have provided a hard-hitting 1-2 punch for the Bears on the offensive end of the floor, holding the top-two spots in the SoCon for both total points and points per game. They are one of just three pairs of teammates to hold this distinction, along with Haley Cavinder (255 pts./19.6 ppg) and Hanna Cavinder (227 pts./17.5 ppg) of Fresno State (Mountain West Conference) and Lasha Petree (295 pts./19.7 ppg) and Gabi Haack (248 pts./16.5 ppg) of Bradley (Missouri Valley Conference).

D-FENCE! D-FENCE!
Mercer has been one of the most tenacious teams in the country when it comes to playing defense.

The Bears lead the SoCon in scoring margin (+11.6), turnover margin (+7.86), assist-turnover ratio (1.12), steals (132), blocks (69) and blocks per game (4.9). Additionally, they rank second in scoring defense (58.3), opponent field goal percentage (37.1 pct.), turnovers forced per game (20.43) and steals per game (9.4).

Mercer ranks in the top-75 nationally in all 10 categories, including being in the top-50 in turnover margin (6th), blocks (17th), steals (21st), assist-turnover ratio (29th), turnovers forced (32nd), blocks per game (35th) and scoring defense (41st).

Last Time Out
Senior Shannon Titus became the 27th player in Mercer history to join the 1,000-point club as the Bears topped Furman, 71-57, for their fourth-straight Southern Conference win on Saturday evening.

Titus scored a season and game high 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the floor while going 7-of- 8 from the charity stripe. The Johns Creek, Ga., native brought down nine rebounds, one away from recording her second-straight double-double, and had five offensive boards. Titus also posted game-highs with three steals and two blocks while adding four assists. Titus is now 25th on Mercer's all-time scoring list with 1,015 points.
Jada Lewis joined Titus in double figures with 21 points, going 6-of-13 from the field and 4-of-6 from downtown. Jaron Dougherty collected a game-high 10 rebounds and scored nine points, while Jill Harris dished out a game-high five assists.

The Bears led wire-to-wire for the fourth time this season and held the advantage for all-but 41 seconds. Mercer shot 43.4 percent (23-of-53) from the field and 57.1 percent (4-of-7) from 3-point range. The home team was also 21-of-26 (80.8 pct.) from the free throw line, marking its second-most makes from the charity stripe in a game this season. Mercer created offense from its defense as the Bears scored 21 points off turnovers in the game. They also dominated the turnover battle, 18- 7, for their third consecutive game with fewer than 10 giveaways.

Series History
The Bears are 8-17 all-time against Chattanooga, including a 7-8 mark since joining the Southern Conference in 2014-15. Despite the Mocs winning 16 of the first 18 meetings between the two squads, Mercer has found a winning formula recently with a 6-1 record over the last seven games.

Mercer went 2-1 against Chattanooga last season, including an upset win in the SoCon Tournament on March 5. The 7th-seeded Bears captured a 63- 55 victory over the 2nd-seeded Mocs to earn a trip to the conference semifinals. It was the first time that a team seeded 7th or lower advanced to the semifinals since Western Carolina in 2014.

In the game, the Bears shot 45.1 percent (23-of-51) and were led by Amoria Neal-Tysor (23 pts., 5 reb.) and Jaron Dougherty (19 pts., 5 reb.). Shannon Titus captained the team's defensive efforts with a game-high four blocks as the Mocs shot 38.6 percent (22-of-57) from the floor while turning the ball over 13 times.

Scouting the Mocs
Chattanooga enters Thursday's matchup with a record of 8-6 on the season, including a 3-2 mark in the Southern Conference. The Mocs are coming off a convincing 70-57 victory over Samford who was previously unbeaten in conference play. In that game, Chattanooga led wire-to-wire and maintained a double-digit advantage for the final 29 minutes and 42 seconds of the contest.

The Mocs are led by Eboni Williams who averages 14.4 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. Bria Dial (12.4 ppg) joins Williams as the team's only two players averaging double figures and serves as UTC's deep threat. Dial has connected on 32-of-90 3-point attempts (35.6 pct.) to lead the squad.

Additionally, Abbey Cornelius is a threat on both ends of the floor, averaging 9.8 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. She leads the SoCon in blocks with 28.

Cornelius is the reigning SoCon Player of the Week for her efforts against Samford when she averaged 17.5 points and 11.5 rebounds while shooting 65.2 percent from the field.

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.

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Players Mentioned

Jaron Dougherty

Jill Harris

Jada Lewis

Amoria Neal-Tysor

Shannon Titus

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