Dougherty Scores Season High in Setback at Samford

Saturday, January 9

Birmingham, Ala.

3 P.M. ET

Mercer University

6-4,0-1SoCon

Samford

4-6,1-0SoCon

Mercer

Samford

Photo by: Kayla Davis

Dougherty Scores Season High in Setback at Samford

1/9/2021 7:01:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Jaron Dougherty scored a season-high 27 points against the Bulldogs and was two points shy of her career high

By: Stephen Waldman

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Mercer women's basketball team dropped its conference opener in a 78-69 setback at Samford on Saturday afternoon from the Pete Hanna Center.

The loss was Mercer's first since Dec. 13.

The Bears were out-rebounded in the game, 45-31, including an 18-17 deficit in their defensive end of the floor. Samford used those 18 offensive rebounds to score 17 second chance points, while also converting 19-of-22 (86.4 percent) free throw attempts. Mercer, who shot 40.6 percent (26-of-64) from the field and 38.9 percent (7-of-18) from 3-point range, finished at 58.8 percent (10-of-17) from the free throw line.

Mercer was led offensively by the trio of Jaron Dougherty (27 pts./5 reb.), Jada Lewis (18 pts./4 ast.) and Amoria Neal-Tysor (13 pts./5 reb./3 ast.) who all reached double figures. The trio combined to make 7-of-17 shots (41.2 percent) from beyond-the-arc, including Lewis draining a season-high four long-range attempts. Shannon Titus chipped in with team highs in rebounds (7), assists (4), blocks (4) and steals (3) while finishing with eight points.

Samford's Annie Ramil put up a double-double with 28 points and 15 rebounds on 11-of-17 shooting from the floor. Andrea Cournoyer also played well for the home side, recording 16 points, six rebounds, five steals and four assists.

How It Happened
The Bears came out of the gate red hot, taking an 8-2 lead three-and-a-half-minutes into the game. Mercer began the contest 4-of-6 from the field with Dougherty scoring the team's first six points. Samford managed to bring the score to 8-6 by the media timeout, however, and tied things up at 12-all with 2:15 remaining in the opening period.

The home team found its rhythm to start the second quarter as a 13-2 run put the Bulldogs ahead, 27-16, with 4:23 left in the first half. A pair of treys by Lewis on back-to-back possessions put the Bears back in striking distance as the deficit was cut to five points at 27-22.

Both teams traded blows throughout the majority of the third quarter until a 7-0 Samford run quickly turned its 44-40 lead into a 51-40 advantage. The Bears fought hard throughout the entire second half, but were unable to get their shots to fall as their much-needed return run evaded them.

Quotables – Head coach Susie Gardner
On the team's performance…
"I thought Samford out-played, out-worked and out-hustled us. They got offensive rebounds on 51 percent of their misses. They had 18 offensive rebounds and we only had 17 defensive rebounds. You just don't see that very often. We did a good job on guarding [Natalie] Armstrong, who scored 28 on us last year, but we let [Annie] Ramil score 28 today. Maybe we needed a wake-up call, but I didn't recognize the team out on the court today. It's only the first game of the (conference) season, so we're going to get back to work and make the corrections we need to moving forward."

Player of the Game
Jaron Dougherty was lethal on the offensive end of the floor tonight for Mercer, scoring a season-high 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the field. The Buford, Ga., native added 2-of-5 makes from 3-point range and was a perfect 5-of-5 on free throws. She added five rebounds, including a season-high four offensive rebounds, to go along with two blocks, two steals and an assist in 27 minutes of action. Her two blocks brought her career total to 68 which puts her tied for eighth in program history with Christy Cogley.

Notables
» Mercer saw its three-game winning streak snapped on Saturday.
» This was the first game that Mercer lost after winning the opening tip-off this season.
» The Bears won the turnover battle for the ninth time in 10 games this year.
» Dougherty scored a season-high 27 points in the game and was two shy of her career high.
» Dougherty reached double figures for the ninth straight game and posted the 14th 20-point performance of her career.
» Dougherty's two blocks moved her into a tie for eighth on Mercer's career blocks list with Christy Cogley (68).
» Dougherty made at least 10 field goals for the third time this season.
» Dougherty hit a pair of career milestones in today's game, recording her 100th career offensive rebound while scoring her 700th career point.
» Lewis connected on a season-high four three-pointers in the game.
» Lewis tallied double digit points for the 60th time of her career.
» Neal-Tysor recorded her seventh game in double figures this season and 26th of her career.
» Neal-Tysor suited up for her 70th game in a Mercer uniform.
» Both Sierra Votaw and Titus tallied their 200th defensive rebound of their collegiate careers in the game.
» Titus scored eight points in the game and is now 33 away from becoming the 27th member of Mercer's 1,000-point club.

Up Next
The Bears conclude their five-game road trip with a pair of contests at UNC Greensboro next weekend. The first game is slated for Thursday at 7 p.m. with the second matchup scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+.

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.