Bears Close Out 2024 At Kennesaw State

MACON – The Mercer women's basketball team will close out the calendar year on Monday evening when the Bears pack up their show and make the short hop north to battle Kennesaw State inside the KSU Convocation Center. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.

Fans unable to make the trip to Kennesaw, can still follow the action for free via a live statistics link provided by the KSU athletics department. The game is also scheduled to be broadcasted live on ESPN+. The game is also scheduled to be broadcasted live on ESPN+, as well as on the Sportsmic App with veteran broadcaster Rick Cameron handling the play-by-play duties.

Thursday's contest will mark the final leg of a two-game partnership with the United Way of Central Georgia's Merrie Christmas Project as well.

ABOUT THE GAME
Date: Monday, December 30 Time: 7 p.m. ET Location: Kennesaw, Ga. I KSU Convocation Center TV: ESPN+ Live Statistics: MercerStats.com Twitter Updates: @Mercer_WBB

ABOUT THE BEARS
The Bears (4-10) will look to snap a five-game skid when they trek to Kennesaw on Monday. Visiting Kennesaw State limited the Orange & Black to just a trio of made field goals in the opening half on December 21 in Hawkins Arena, and then held back an intense comeback effort in the second stanza, on the way to a 74-61 victory over the hosts. Junior Ariana Bennett has averaged 15.8 points per game across her last four starts on 46.6 percent (21-for-45) field goal shooting. That stretch includes a pair of home games last week (Jackson State, Appalachian State) in which she tallied 19.5 points an outing. Bennett leads the Bears with 10.9 points per game through 14 outings so far this season. Mercer has committed a Southern Conference-low 14.4 fouls per game (33^rd NCAA) through 14 games, and will showcase the league's second-best free throw-shooting squad (74.0 percent) in Kennesaw on Monday. The Bears have tacked up 13.0 points per game from the charity stripe this season. Mercer has captured 16 of the 29 previous meetings with the Owls, and will ride a three-game series win streak into Monday's contest inside the KSU Convocation Center. The Bears have won 10 of the last 12 matchups with KSU dating back to a 71-46 road win on Jan. 5, 2013. MU has also captured five of the last meetings on the road with Kennesaw State.

ABOUT KENNESAW STATE
The Owls (5-5) put the wraps on their second-straight victory with a 65-62 home triumph over Georgia State on December 19. The Panthers took a 9-point lead into the final quarter of that contest, but Kennesaw State shot better than 47 percent from the field in last stanza, and outscored the visitors 25-13 in the final period to fuel the final outcome. Senior forward Prencis Harden has already logged five double-doubles this season, and paces KSU in both scoring (15.3 ppg) and rebounding (9.4 rpg) heading into Monday's matchup with Mercer. Harden also has a trio of 20+-point scoring efforts this season, including 22 and 26 points in back-to-back games with Seattle and Georgia State, respectively. Defense has been the calling card so far for the Owls who have limited opponents to just 58.7 points per game through 10 outings this season. KSU has held its opponents to just 24.6 percent shooting from the perimeter (18^th NCAA) this season.

ON DECK
The Bears will get a long break from competition following Monday's outing, but will resume their 2024-25 regular season schedule on January 11 when they open up Southern Conference play at home against league nemesis Samford (4-10, 0-0 SoCon). Tipoff for that contest has been scheduled for 2 p.m. and tickets can be purchased by visiting MercerBears.com/Tickets.

FOLLOW THE BEARS
For complete coverage of Mercer Basketball, follow the Bears on social media at @Mercer_WBB (X/Twitter), /MercerWBB (Facebook) and @Mercer_wbb (Instagram) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com.

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Players Mentioned

Ariana Bennett

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