Bears Rally From Early Deficit, Hold Off Samford In SoCon Opener

Saturday, January 11

Macon, Ga.

2 p.m.

Mercer University

6-10,1-0SoCon

Samford

5-12,0-1SoCon

Samford

Mercer

Bears Rally From Early Deficit, Hold Off Samford In SoCon Opener

1/11/2025 4:57:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

MACON – Senior Nahawa Diarra notched her first career double-double with 15 points and 10 boards and the Mercer women's basketball team offset a nine-point deficit midway through the second period with 41 percent shooting in the second half to turn back visiting Samford, 56-53, on Saturday afternoon in Hawkins Arena.

The result marked the eighth-straight series victory for the Bears (6-10, 1-0 SoCon) who captured their conference opener for the first time since the 2021-22 campaign. It was the fourth loss in the last five outings for the Bulldogs (5-12, 0-1) who walked away from Macon empty-handed for the third-straight time.

THE BASICS

SCORE: Mercer 56, Samford 53
RECORDS: Mercer 6-10 (1-0 SoCon); Samford 5-12 (0-1 SoCon)
LOCATION: Macon, Ga. (Hawkins Arena)

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST QUARTER

Neither side was able to build more than a four-point edge in a first period that saw the lead change hands twice. The Bears used a driving layup by Nahawa Diarra to forge its four-point advantage, 10-6, with 49 ticks left, but Samford answered with a pair of 3-pointers down the stretch to take a 12-10 lead into the second quarter.

2ND QUARTER

Sadie Stetson's triple with just less than seven minutes left marked the first of seven-straight points by the visitors that helped them build a 21-12 advantage just two minutes later. Mercer plugged the dam, however, and hung around before tacking up five-straight points later in the quarter and eventually make it a one-possession game, 27-25, heading into the intermission.

3RD QUARTER

The Bears shot better than 45 percent from the field in the third stanza, and put together a 15-3 run midway through to take the lead for good. Kayla Smith broke a 33-33 tie with three foul shots at the 5:30 mark, and the Orange & Black padded the lead out to seven points, 40-33, two minutes later on a pair of free throws from Ariana Bennett.

4TH QUARTER

Samford pulled to within one point, 47-46, following Claire Johnson's 3-pointer just 2-1/2 minutes in, but Mercer was able to retain control of the lead thanks to a 5-for-6 clip from the charity stripe the rest of the way out. The Bulldogs, again, cut their deficit back to a lone point, 54-53, with seven seconds remaining, but Kayla Smith nailed a pair of clutch free throws, and Claire Johnson missed a potential game-tying trey on the other end of the court to ice the final.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

+ Junior Kayla Smith used an 11-for-11 clip from the free throw line, as well as a 2-for-3 tally from the perimeter, to fuel a game-best 17 points. She also added five rebounds.
+ Senior Nahawa Diarra notched her first career double-double with 15 points and 10 boards, including seven rebounds in the fourth quarter alone. She collected four steals and as many assists as well.
+ Freshman Talia Harris barely missed notching her third-straight double-digit scoring performance, this time posting nine points to go along with four rebounds, one assist and a steal.

NOTABLES

+ Mercer has now captured eight-straight games in the 38-game-old series with Samford. Saturday's result marked just the sixth time since the 1994-95 season that a meeting between the two squads has been decided by a single-possession, and the first time that has happened since MU's 48-45 triumph on Feb. 10, 2018.
+ The Bears registered a 39-30 advantage in the rebounding column on Saturday, and has now out-boarded its opponent twice in the last three outings. Saturday's outing also included 13 offensive rebounds for MU – their most since collecting 19 offensive boards in a win over Charleston Southern in November.
+ MU did not record a block for the first time this season, and effectively ended a 44-game streak in which it had turned in at least one swat.

UP NEXT

Mercer will take a 2-game swing through the state of Tennessee next week, opening up the trip with a Thursday evening contest at East Tennessee State (9-7, 0-1 SoCon) before hopping over to Chattanooga (6-9, 1-1) for a Saturday tilt against the defending SoCon champ Mocs.

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BACK THE BEARS

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