Mercer Starts SoCon Play at Samford on Saturday

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer Women's Basketball team kicks off its Southern Conference slate at Samford on Saturday with tip-off being slated at 3 p.m. (ET).

BEAR NECESSITIES
Date: Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021 | 3 p.m. (ET)
Teams: Mercer (6-3, 0-0 SoCon) at Samford (3-6, 0-0 SoCon)
Location: Birmingham, Ala. | Pete Hanna Center
Live Stats: samfordsports.com
TV: ESPN+
TV Talent: Curt Bloom and Emily London Swaim
Twitter Updates: @Mercer_WBB
Game Notes: Mercer | Samford

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.

Dougherty Named SoCon Player of the Month
Junior Jaron Dougherty earned SoCon Player of the Month honors in December for the first time in her career. She averaged 18.0 points and 9.3 rebounds per game throughout the final month of 2020, shooting 46.6 percent (54-of-116) from the field. The Buford, Ga., native recorded at least 15 points and eight rebounds in six of Mercer's seven games in December with three 20-point performances and two double-doubles. Dougherty put together her first double-double of December against Covenant (11 pts./11 reb.) and followed that with a 20-point, 12-rebound performance against Alabama later in the month.

Titus Closing In on 1,000 Points
Senior Shannon Titus is closing in on becoming the 27th member of the 1,000-point club in program history. The Johns Creek, Ga., native has scored 959 points throughout her career in the Orange and Black, putting her 41 points shy of reaching the milestone.

Packing a Punch
Juniors Jaron Dougherty (155 pts./17.2 ppg) and Amoria Neal-Tysor (147 pts./16.3 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. The duo has combined for more than 33 points per game.

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 defense (57.1), opponent field goal percentage (35.5 pct.), scoring margin (+14.4), blocks (50), blocks per game (5.6), steals (89), and turnover margin (+7.6). Additionally, they rank second in opponent 3-point percentage (23.1 pct.), turnovers forced per game (21.0), rebounds (364) and steals per game (9.9).

The Bears rank in the top-75 nationally in each of these categories, including the top-50 in blocks (9th), opponent 3-point percentage (17th), blocks per game (23rd), turnovers forced (25th), scoring defense (31st), steals (35th), opponent field goal percentage (41st) and scoring margin (48th).

Last Time Out
Mercer capped the non-conference portion of its 2020-21 schedule with an emphatic 87-51 road victory over UNC Wilmington on Dec. 29 at Trask Coliseum.

Mercer's defense continues to lock down the opposition as the Bears held the Seahawks to 16-of-58 (27.6 percent) from the floor, marking the third consecutive game they held the opposition under 33 percent from the field. Mercer also held UNCW to shooting just 21.7 percent (5-of-23) from long range. The tenacity of the defensive unit also contributed in the offensive output with 33 points on the fast break and 32 off the home team's 25 turnovers.

The Bears' offense looked as good as it has all year, posting season highs in points (87), field goals (37) and field goal percentage (53.6). Four players reached double figures for Mercer with Amoria Neal-Tysor dropping a game-high 21 points. Jada Lewis (19 pts.), Jaron Dougherty (18 pts.) and Shannon Titus (14 pts.) also reached double-digit points in the contest. The four-headed monster not only scored at a high volume, but they did so in an efficient manner as all four players had field goal percentages that were higher than their season totals prior to the game.

Dougherty collected a team-high nine rebounds in the game, while dishing out three assists and snagging three steals. Titus led the squad in steals (5) and blocks (3) while adding eight rebounds and two assists. Jill Harris (6 ast.) and Lewis (5 ast.) combined for 11 of Mercer's 23 assists on the night with a total of seven players recording an assist in the game.

Series History
The Bears boast an all-time record of 19-7 against Samford, dating back to their first meeting in 1998. Mercer won the first three games in the series before Samford earned five wins in a row.

Mercer proceeded to win the next 16 consecutive meetings leading up to last season, its second-longest winning streak against a single opponent in program history.

The Bulldogs halted their losing skid with a 72-64 win at home on Jan. 18 before a 60-54 win in Macon on Feb. 15. Titus led the Bears offense in both games against Samford last season, averaging 16.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.0 blocks and 2.0 steals in those games.

Both teams have experienced a great deal of success in recent history as Mercer (2018 & '19) and Samford (2020) have won the last three Southern Conference Tournament championships.

Scouting the Bulldogs
Samford enters SoCon play with a 3-6 record after winning its last two games. The Bulldogs rounded out the 2020 calendar year with a 76-51 victory over Alabama Huntsville before an offensive explosion led them to a 135-60 win over Birmingham-Southern.

In the game against BSU, Samford set program records for points scored (135), points scored in a half (69), points scored in a quarter (41), margin of victory (75), field goals made (53) and assists (29). The 135 points also set a SoCon record and is a new Pete Hanna Center record for a men's or women's regular season game.

The Bulldogs have three players averaging double figures offensively in Shauntai Battle (15.0 ppg), Andrea Cournoyer (13.5 ppg) and Natalie Armstrong (12.5 ppg). Annie Ramil (7.6 rpg) and Armstrong (6.3 rpg) lead Samford's rebounding efforts, while Raven Omar's 45 assists are the 19th-most in Division I.

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.

Mercer Starts SoCon Play at Samford on Saturday

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Players Mentioned

Jaron Dougherty

Jill Harris

Jada Lewis

Amoria Neal-Tysor

Shannon Titus

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