Mercer Captures SoCon Championship

Sunday, March 6

Asheville, N.C.

Noon

Mercer University

23-6,13-1SoCon

Furman

19-12,10-4SoCon

Furman

Mercer

Photo by: Southern Conference

3/6/2022 4:51:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Bears take down Furman, 73-54, for automatic bid to NCAA Tournament

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – A strong defensive third quarter helped propel the Mercer Bears to the 2022 Ingles SoCon Championship on Sunday afternoon, besting Furman by a 73-54 score. Mercer (23-6) battled back from a tight first half en route to their fourth crown in five seasons.

For the second consecutive game, the Bears defense only allowed single digits in a quarter, as Furman could only muster four in the third. The tournament's Most Outstanding Player for the second consecutive season, Amoria Neal-Tysor tallied 26 points and dished four assists to help lead the Bears in 38 minutes of action. Shannon Titus, the league's three-time Defensive Player of the Year, scored 15, snagged four defensive boards and helped with four assists. Jaron Dougherty and Erin Houpt put up 13 and 12 points, respectively to round out the Bears in double figures. Houpt, the conference's Freshman of the Year, claimed five defensive boards, to lead Mercer in the category.

Mercer trailed for just the 10^th time all season going into the break. Houpt totaled 12 points (2-for-3 from 3) to lead Mercer in the decisive quarter where the Bears grabbed a 25-point lead to carry them to the championship. Furman opened the third with a basket and then Mercer responded and never looked back. In the third, Mercer held the Paladins to just 10% (1-for-10) from the field with just one bucket in the paint. Conversely, Mercer shot 73.3% (11-for-15) in the third and grabbed 11 points off Furman turnovers.
The Bears' presence in the paint helped them greatly, as they totaled 26 points in the paint, as well as converting 11-of-14 layups.

How it Happened
Furman got the best of Mercer in the first quarter, taking a slim, 13-12 advantage after holding a four-point lead in its early stages. The second quarter saw Neal-Tysor notch half of Mercer's 12 as the Bears were on the unfortunate side of the board going into the break. Mercer flipped the script in the third behind a dozen from the Freshman of the Year, Houpt. Dougherty and Titus evenly combined for 14 to help separate themselves from their foes from upstate South Carolina.

In the fourth, Mercer held off Furman from making a comeback as Neal-Tysor tallied 10 of her 26 to seal the championship. Mercer hit 68% (17-for-25) from the field in the final two quarters, nearly doubling Furman's 33% (9-for-27).

Quotes - Head Coach Susie Gardner
Opening statement
"It never gets old. And I'll be honest with you, I told coach (Ben) Wierzba in the middle of the season, I said, 'I don't know if this team has it in them to win the championship,' because we had so many close games. A lot of them could've gone either way, they came down to end-of-the-game situations. But I don't know what happened when we got to Asheville, but we turned it up. Proud of all these guys. The players that didn't play tonight, the coaches. I have an exceptional staff. Furman is a great team. Tierra Hodges is an amazing player. It was going to be interesting tonight. You have the Player of the Year in Tierra (Hodges) and the Defensive Player of the Year in Shannon (Titus), 'cause that was going to be our matchup. Obviously her (Tierra Hodges) getting into foul trouble hurt Furman a little bit and it was an amazing charge that Shannon (Titus) took. But (Furman coach) Jackie (Carson) and her program has nothing to hang their heads about because she did a great job this year. They played with class, they're good people and hopefully they get to keep playing postseason."

On after the half
"I think we really emphasized defense, especially down here in Asheville. We weren't getting many open shots because Furman is a good defensive team themselves. We feel like we needed to amp it up defensively and try to get out and run. Defense is just like shooting the ball and making shots. It's contagious. It starts, of course with Shannon (Titus), but no one wants to let Shannon down as a defensive player and we just amped it up. We got some steals, we got some rebounds, and we were running. And sometimes when you're making shots, your defense becomes more intense because you're making shots at the same time."

On Furman's Tierra Hodges being in foul trouble
"It's never a goal to get anyone in foul trouble. You don't really have a lot of control over getting someone in foul trouble. Our goal was simply to limit her touches. I really respect Tierra (Hodges). Her story, being at Furman for six years, torn ACL, how she develops herself as a player, I really respect her. She's a 5-9 post and leads the conference in rebounding, I don't think you can ever plan on getting someone in foul trouble, but it was big for us."

Notables
• Mercer won its fourth SoCon Tournament in five years
• It will be the seventh time Mercer has made the NCAA Tournament, and second consecutive
• Mercer defeated every conference opponent at least twice

Up Next
Mercer will learn its fate in the NCAA Tournament, as the selection will take place next week – Sunday, March 13. Stay updated by following MercerBears.com for updates.

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