Staving off the Spartans

Thursday, January 13

Greensboro, NC

7:00 PM

Mercer University

9-5,2-0SoCon

UNCG

4-10,0-1SoCon

Mercer

UNC Greensboro

Photo by: Carlos Morales - UNCG

1/13/2022 10:40:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Titus, Banks and Dougherty lead Mercer to win

GREENSBORO, N.C. – In the first road conference game of the season, Mercer (9-5, 2-0 SoCon) battled the UNCG Spartans (4-10, 0-1 SoCon) to a 66-60 win in Fleming Gym on Thursday night. Shannon Titus led the way with 19 points, six rebounds and three assists as the Bears prevailed in a back-and-forth contest. The 19 points by the super senior from Johns Creek, Ga. is a season best.

How it Happened
UNCG initially took control from the opening tip and held Mercer off the scoreboard for the first four minutes and led by as many as seven before Mercer closed the quarter gap to just three. Titus led the Bears with six points, two swipes and a rebound in the opening period. Jaron Dougherty added four in the second in a continuation of the tight contest. With the lead at just three with two and a half to go in the first half, Kinley Fisher drained a three from just to the right of the top of the key to help separate the Bears from Spartans as Mercer took a slim lead into the break.

Q2 5:52 » "I've got this layup, don't worry." - Jaron, maybe MER 23, UNCG 21#WhateverItTakes | #RoarTogether pic.twitter.com/0Ts7mkhf7E — Mercer Women's Basketball (@Mercer_WBB) January 14, 2022

A back-and-forth third quarter that ended in a 19 apiece stalemate was highlighted by clutch buckets from Titus, who notched nine in the stanza. Mercer pulled away from the hosts but not until they scored four of the game's last six when Erin Houpt drained two from the foul line with not 20 seconds to go.

Mercer shot 81.3% from the charity stripe, forced 22 turnovers and notched 22 points off turnovers.

Quotables – Head Coach Susie Gardner
Thoughts on the performance from the team
"I'm really proud of Shannon. She had some amazing defensive stops for us which led to scoring opportunities. Endia had one of her best offensive games this season. When we hit a lull in scoring, she came through for us. I am really proud of Endia and how she stepped up for us. We shot the ball from the free throw line exceptionally well. Everybody that played did something for us. It was a total team effort and a lot of hard work since UNCG is a really good team."

On the opportunities created by the defense
"We have the ability to sometimes mix up our defenses and when you have the two-time defending defensive player of the year on your team setting the tone, it's helpful. It's helpful to have someone like Shannon in our program. She leads, plays hard and great part of our program. If stats are falling, we know we can rely on our defense."

Q4 8:26 » Shannon with a season-high with 19 tonight. MER 56, UNCG 48#WhateverItTakes | #RoarTogether pic.twitter.com/Tcndqi551M — Mercer Women's Basketball (@Mercer_WBB) January 14, 2022

Notables
• The Bears have now won their third game in a row, which is the longest streak of the season
• Mercer has now won three of the last four in Greensboro over the Spartans and 10 of 12 in the state of North Carolina
• Shannon Titus' 19 points is a new season best for the super senior, eclipsing the 18 scored against Troy in mid-November
• Mercer has won their first two league games for the first time since the 2018-19 campaign and the fifth time since joining the SoCon in 2014-15

Up Next
Mercer will stay in North Carolina as they take on Western Carolina on Saturday afternoon. Tipoff against the Catamounts is scheduled for 5 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+.

Follow the Bears:
For complete coverage of Mercer 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.