Bears Wrap Up Road Trip With Loss At Chattanooga

Saturday, January 18

Chattanooga, Tenn.

2 p.m.

Mercer University

6-12,1-2SoCon

Chattanooga

8-9,3-1SoCon

Mercer

Chattanooga

Bears Wrap Up Road Trip With Loss At Chattanooga

1/18/2025 2:54:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Defending Southern Conference champion Chattanooga shot nearly 40 percent from the floor and used a 15-2 run in the second quarter to pull away for good as the Mocs got the better end of a 60-37 decision against visiting Mercer on Saturday afternoon in McKenzie Arena.

The result marked the second-straight loss for the Bears (6-12, 1-2 SoCon) who will return to Macon next week for a pair of games in Hawkins Arena. It was the sixth-straight series win for Chattanooga (8-9, 3-1) who have now captured four of their last five outings.

THE BASICS

SCORE: Chattanooga 60, Mercer 37
RECORDS: Mercer 6-12 (1-2 SoCon); Chattanooga 8-9 (3-1 SoCon)
LOCATION: Chattanooga, Tenn. (McKenzie Arena)

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST QUARTER

The squads traded punch for punch throughout most of the opening period, but the Mocs scored six of the period's final 10 points to lug a 14-10 advantage into the second stanza. Mercer tacked up four-straight points to eventually knot the game up at eight points apiece on Chelsy Bautista's jumper with 6:20 remaining, but Karsen Murphy connected on a turn-around jumper 2-1/2 minutes later to give the hosts the lead for good.

2ND QUARTER

Chattanooga connected on eight of its 13 shot field goal attempts (61.5%), including a pair of 3-pointers, in the second period, while also limiting the Bears to 25 percent shooting. Mercer made it a one-possession game, 14-12, on Nahawa Diarra's driving layup just 13 seconds into the period, but Gianna Corbitt's layup on the other end of the court ignited the Mocs on a game-changing 15-2 run that spanned a good portion of the game's next six minutes.

3RD QUARTER

Both sides shot the ball at a sub-38 percent pace in the third quarter, but the Mocs opened the period with 11-straight points to pad their advantage. The Bears cut into their deficit on Ashlee Locke's hook shot with 3:24 left to make it a 46-24 game, but Chattanooga answered just more than a minute later with its fourth of five 3-pointers in the stanza.

4TH QUARTER

Mercer forced five turnovers in the final quarter, but Chattanooga held their own to close out the afternoon. The Mocs took their largest lead of the afternoon, 58-32, on Takia Davis's driving layup with 3:40 left to play, but the Bears trimmed the deficit back down by scoring five of the game's final seven points.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

+ Freshman Talia Harris reached double-figure scoring numbers for the fourth time in her last five starts, this time pouring in 12 points to go along with two rebounds and an assist.
+ Senior Ashlee Locke registered a career-high eight blocks in Saturday's contest, and scored all eight of her points in the second half. She also tallied four rebounds and three assists.
+ Senior Nahawa Diarra and junior Ariana Bennett both added seven points to the cause. Diarra also totaled three assists as well.

NOTABLES

+ Chattanooga has now captured six-straight contests in its 35-game-old series with Mercer. Chattanooga improved to 12-3 at home in the series with Saturday's result.
+ Ashlee Locke's eight blocks against the Mocs was one swat away from matching a school record, and marked the most blocked shots by a Mercer player since Shannon Titus had eight against Furman on Feb. 8, 2020.
+ Mercer's nine team blocks on Saturday marked the most swats since the Bears totaled nine last season at Chattanooga.

UP NEXT

Mercer will return to Macon for a pair of home games next week beginning with a Thursday evening contest against Southern Conference rival Wofford (10-5, 2-0 SoCon). The Bears will also play the front half of a 2 p.m. Education Day doubleheader against Furman (11-7, 1-1) on Saturday in Hawkins Arena. Tickets are still available for both games and can be purchased by visiting MercerBears.com/Tickets.

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BACK THE BEARS

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