Mercer Advances Past No. 7 Western Carolina

Thursday, March 4

Asheville, N.C.

5 p.m.

Mercer University

17-6,10-3SoCon

Western Carolina (Quarterfinals)

6-18,3-10SoCon

Western Caro.

Mercer

Photo by: Todd Drexler/SESPORTSMEDIA.com

3/4/2021 9:26:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Amoria Neal-Tysor scored a game-high 27 points

By: Stephen Waldman

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The Mercer women's basketball team is headed to the Southern Conference semifinals after defeating No. 7 Western Carolina, 76-67, in the SoCon quarterfinals at the Harrah's Cherokee Center on Thursday evening.

The Bears led for more than 38 of the 40 minutes in the game thanks to a fast start by junior Amoria Neal-Tysor who scored five points in the first five minutes of the game. Neal-Tysor finished with a game-high 27 points with six rebounds and four 3-pointers. Redshirt senior Jada Lewis added 24 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field and was perfect on all three of her shots from beyond-the-arc. She added a 9-of-11 outing from the free throw line. Junior Jaron Dougherty compiled her ninth double-double of the season with 14 points and 13 rebounds, including a team-high five offensive boards. Senior Shannon Titus led the Bears with five assists and two blocks while gathering five rebounds.

Mercer shot 40.7 percent (24-of-59) from the field as a team while posting its third-best 3-point shooting performance of the season at 43.8 percent (7-of-16). It was the fifth time this season the Bears knocked down seven or more 3-pointers. Defensively, the Orange and Black held Western Carolina to just 3-of-13 shooting (23.1 pct.) from long range and forced the Catamounts to turn the ball over 11 times.

How It Happened
The Bears came ready to play in the first quarter as they scored the first five points of the game and eight of the first 10. Western Carolina used an 8-1 run over the next 2:27 to take a 10-9 lead. Neal-Tysor knocked down a pair of treys on back-to-back possessions to give Mercer a 15-12 edge, but a pair of makes by Nadia Marshall and Kyla Allison handed the advantage back to the Catamounts.

Lewis made a pair of free throws with 43 seconds remaining in the opening period to push the Bears back into the lead at 17-16. It appeared that would be the score heading into the second quarter, but Neal-Tysor intercepted a careless WCU pass with three seconds on the clock and bolted down the court to hit the buzzer-beating layup.

Mori is 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔 as she takes it the other way as time expires! 🏃‍♀️💨💨#DefineYourMoment | @bballmori10 pic.twitter.com/9FkUWQT0TO
— Mercer Women's Basketball (@Mercer_WBB) March 4, 2021

After trading makes to open the second stanza, the designated home team created some separation with an 8-0 run, including seven points from Neal-Tysor. Mercer's lead hovered around 10 points throughout the remainder of the first half as it took a 39-31 advantage into halftime.

Both teams once again went back-and-forth to start the third quarter with Mercer holding a six-point lead, 43-37. The Bears once again created some breathing room with a 15-6 run throughout the final 5:33 of the period to take their largest lead of the game at 15 points.

Mercer maintained a double-digit advantage throughout the first six-and-a-half minutes of the final frame and prevented Western Carolina from coming within a three-possessions to move on to Friday's semifinal matchup with the Paladins.

MOVING ON! #DefineYourMoment | #LightTheBridge pic.twitter.com/oMKVbyHw56
— Mercer Women's Basketball (@Mercer_WBB) March 4, 2021

Quotables – Head coach Susie Gardner
On opening statement…
"We were fortunate tonight that Amoria [Neal-Tysor] was hot in the first half and Jada [Lewis] got hot in the second half. I wouldn't say it was our best effort in a few areas, but right now you just have to find a way to win and we did."

On pace of the game/withstanding the push from the other team…
"I thought we started a bit slowly and weren't hitting some shots early on. I try not to get too upset because the nerves of the SoCon Tournament. We did get a lead, but I felt like we relaxed a bit. Part of that was because Western Carolina started pushing [the pace] on us. They played a really small lineup with mostly guards, which was different than what you prepare for with most of the opponents in the SoCon."

On who stood out in the game…
"I thought that Amoria [Neal-Tysor] shot the ball really well tonight. Jada [Lewis] also hit some big shots for us, and once they started fouling we definitely wanted the ball in her hands."

Assistant coach Ben Wierzba

Mercer Athletics · Mercer WBB Postgame Show vs WCU SoCon QF 03 04 2021

Player of the Game
Amoria Neal-Tysor continued to excel in her home state of North Carolina with a game-high 27 points. The Sanford, N.C., native came out the gate red hot, scoring 22 points in the first half while knocking down all four of her 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes. This was her fourth game in the Tar Heel State this season, and she has scored at least 20 points in all of them. She pulled down six rebounds in the game while adding two assists and a steal.

Mori is a scoring 𝗺𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲 with her 5⃣th game with 25+ points! 🤖🏀#DefineYourMoment | @bballmori10 pic.twitter.com/oHt1i6zdtW
— Mercer Women's Basketball (@Mercer_WBB) March 4, 2021

Notables
» This was Mercer's first neutral site game of the season.
» The Bears improved to 7-0 all-time in the SoCon Quarterfinals and 3-0 against Western Carolina in the conference tournament.
» Mercer remained perfect when outrebounding its opponent, moving to 10-0 in those games.
» The Bears improved to 12-0 when scoring at least 70 points in a game this season.
» Amoria Neal-Tysor hit four 3-pointers for the seventh time this season, knocking down all of them in the first half.
» Neal-Tysor posted her team-leading ninth 20-point performance and fifth with at least 25 points.
» Neal-Tysor matched her season high with six rebounds.
» The Sanford, N.C., native notched her fourth 20-point performance in her home state in as many games.
» Neal-Tysor pulled down the 50th offensive rebound of her career.
» Jada Lewis tallied her team-leading 19th game in double figures.
» Lewis scored at least 20 points for the fifth game this year.
» Lewis knocked down all three of her 3-pointers in the game for her eighth game this year with at least three treys.
» Lewis earned her 100th collegiate start in the game.
» Jaron Dougherty scored her 900th career point tonight.
» Shannon Titus matched her season high with five assists.
» Titus dished out her 200th career assist.
» Jill Harris recorded her 10th career block.
» Harris tallied at least three assists for the 16th time this year.
» Sydneey Boykin earned multiple steals in a game for the second time this season.

Up Next
Mercer will square off against No. 6 Furman in the Southern Conference Tournament Semifinals on Friday at the Harrah's Cherokee Center. The game is scheduled to tip off at 2:15 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+, as well as on the radio at 100.9 FM "The Creek" and the SportsMic app with the voice of the Bears, Rick Cameron, on the call.

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.