Bears Set to Face No. 1 South Carolina in NCAA Tournament

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The Mercer women's basketball team will open the 2021 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament against top-seeded South Carolina in the first round of the Hemisfair Regional at the Alamodome's north court on Sunday at 6 p.m. (ET).

The game will be aired on ESPN with Courtney Lyle and Carolyn Peck on the call. Fans can also listen to the game on the Mercer Sports Network on 100.9 FM "The Creek" and Sports Mic with the voice of the Bears, Rick Cameron, on the call.

BEAR NECESSITIES
Date: Sunday, March 21, 2021 | 6 p.m. (ET)
Teams: #16 Mercer (19-6, 10-3 SoCon) vs. #1 South Carolina (22-4, 14-2 SEC)
Location: San Antonio, Texas | Alamodome – North Court
Live Stats: NCAA.com
TV: ESPN
TV Talent: Courtney Lyle and Carolyn Peck
Radio: 100.9 "The Creek", Sports Mic
Radio Talent: Rick Cameron
Twitter Updates: @Mercer_WBB
NCAA Tournament Digital Program: Click Here
Game Notes: Mercer | South Carolina

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 eight tournament crowns. Mercer has also won two regional tournaments and has been to the postseason 15 times.

Back on Top!
The Mercer Bears are back on top in the Southern Conference, claiming their third SoCon Tournament crown in the last four seasons. The Bears defeated Wofford in the title game, 60-38, setting a conference championship game record for fewest points allowed. With the win, Mercer is headed back to the NCAA Tournament for the third time since 2018.

Thirty Under 30
Mercer assistant coach Kaitlyn Cresencia was recognized as a WBCA Thirty Under 30 presented by Morgan Stanley Global Sports & Entertainment honoree, announced on Wednesday by the organization. The program recognizes 30 up-and-coming women's basketball coaches age 30 and under at all levels of the game. Cresencia is in her third season with the Bears works primarily with Mercer's post players. She is committed to empowering the student-athletes and has implemented multiple programs to help the team, most notably Mercer's 'Big Picture' life skills program, which is a full year curriculum dedicated to prepare the student-athletes for life outside of basketball.

Core Four
Mercer has one of the most dynamic offenses in the Southern Conference with four of the top seven scorers in the league. Junior Amoria Neal-Tysor (16.9 ppg) is the second-leading scorer in the conference, while fellow junior Jaron Dougherty (16.2 ppg) ranks third in the conference. Redshirt senior Jada Lewis (14.2 ppg) owns the fifth-best scoring average in the conference, and senior Shannon Titus (13.0 ppg) ranks seventh in the SoCon in scoring average.

Flipping the Script
After an uncharacteristic 8-23 season last year, Mercer has more than doubled its win total for the 2020-21 season and owns an overall mark of 19-6. The Bears are the most improved team in this year's field of 64 for the NCAA Tournament, recording more wins (11), fewer losses (17) and the greatest improvement in win percentage (50.2 percent) than anyone else at the Big Dance.

Mercer is one of only three teams in the tournament who was under .500 last season and the only team with single-digit wins. The Bears are one of only five teams to record at least 10 fewer losses than a season ago and one of 10 teams with more wins than in 2019-20. Additionally, Mercer is the only team to improve its win total by double digits.

I Feel Like Dancin'
Mercer returns to the Big Dance for the third time since 2018 after capturing the Southern Conference Tournament title. The Bears are one of just 24 teams to compete in each of the last three NCAA Tournaments, along with: Baylor, Belmont, Central Michigan, Florida Gulf Coast, Florida State, Gonzaga, Iowa, Louisville, Marquette, Maryland, Michigan, N.C. State, Oregon, Oregon State, South Carolina, South Dakota State, Stanford, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, UCLA and UConn.

Most Outstanding Amoria
Junior Amoria Neal-Tysor had a stellar Southern Conference Tournament that led to her being named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. The Sanford, N.C., native averaged 25.7 points per game while shooting 45.3 percent (29-of-64) from the field and 40.7 percent (11-of-27) from beyond-the-arc. She opened Mercer's championship run by scoring 27 points against Western Carolina in the quarterfinals before dropping a career-high 34 points against Furman to send the Bears back to the SoCon Championship game for the fifth time in six years. Neal-Tysor contributed 16 more points against Wofford in the title game.

Neal-Tysor has been a scoring machine over the last five games, going for double figures in all five games with four 20-point performances while averaging 24.8 points over that stretch.

Reaching Your Goals
Graduate transfer Jada Lewis came to Mercer for one reason: to win a championship and go to the NCAA Tournament. As a leader in the locker room, Lewis made her dreams a reality as she continued Mercer's tradition of winning by earning the program's third SoCon title in the last four years with a 60-38 victory over Wofford in the championship game on March 7.

Lewis, who became accustomed to winning at McEachern High School where she won four Georgia State titles, quickly became a leader for Mercer both on and off the court. She played a major role in the Bear's offensive success this season as her 87 assists leads the team, while her 45 3-pointers made rank second on the team and her 14.2 points per game is the third-best scoring average.

Last Time Out
Mercer captured its third Southern Conference Tournament Championship in the last four years with a 60-38 victory over No. 4 Wofford at Harrah's Cherokee Center on March 7.

With the win, the Bears earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament, securing the automatic bid from the SoCon.
Mercer led wire-to-wire and defended Wofford exceptionally well as a team, allowing the Terriers to score just 38 points in the game to set a new SoCon Championship Game record. The Orange and Black also posted the largest margin of victory in the championship game since 2014 when Chattanooga defeated Davidson by 26 points, 71- 45.

The Bears prevented any of the Terriers' players to reach double figures while limiting Wofford to shooting just 24.5 percent (13-of-53) from the field, marking just the third time this season Mercer held its opposition under 25 percent from the floor. The team's perimeter defense played a large factor in that as well, holding the Terriers to just 4-of-16 (25.0 pct.) from beyond-the-arc. It was the 15th time this season a Mercer opponent shot 25.0 percent or worse on 3-pointers.

Shannon Titus, the SoCon Defensive Player of the Year each of the past two years, held down the fort in Mercer's defensive end, gathering 10 rebounds while blocking four shots and earning a steal.

Three Bears scored in double figures in the game, led by Jaron Dougherty's game-high 19 points. Amoria Neal-Tysor added 16 points of her own, while Jada Lewis chimed in with 13 points. Dougherty collected her 10th double-double of the year with 11 rebounds in the title matchup, while adding a career-high six steals on the defensive end of the floor. Allie Thayne played a huge role in the team's offensive efforts in the game as well with six of her seven rebounds coming on the offensive glass.

Series History
The Bears are 2-6 all-time against South Carolina and will share the hardwood with the Gamecocks for the first time since Nov. 24, 2006. Mercer's last win over South Carolina came on Jan. 15, 1981, while this will be the first neutral site meeting between the two squads since Dec. 21, 1977.

Scouting the Gamecocks
South Carolina earned the No. 1 seed in the Hemisfair regional after going 22-4 and capturing the SEC Tournament championship. The Gamecocks, who enter the tournament ranked fifth in the USA Today/WBCA Coaches poll and sixth in the AP poll, defeated Georgia, 67-62, to capture their sixth conference crown in the last seven seasons.

The 2017 national champions are led by sophomore forward Aliyah Boston, who is one of four finalists for the 2021 Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy after being named a First Team All-American by the Associated Press and ESPN.com. Boston, who also collected co-Defensive Player of the Year honors from the SEC, averages 13.7 points and 11.7 rebounds per game while posting 15 double-doubles. Additionally, she is one of just 13 players in the country who recorded a triple-double this season.

Boston is one of three South Carolina players averaging double-digit points, along with Zia Cooke (15.9) and Destanni Henderson (12.6).

As a team, the Gamecocks lead the nation in blocks (184) and blocks per game (7.1), while ranking third in rebound margin (+14.8) and total rebounds (1,240). They are also fourth in rebounds per game (47.6) and offensive rebounds per game (16.6).

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.

Bears Set to Face No. 1 South Carolina in NCAA Tournament

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Players Mentioned

Jaron Dougherty

Jada Lewis

Amoria Neal-Tysor

Allie Thayne

Shannon Titus

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