Bears Host Furman To Tip Off Saturday Doubleheader

MACON – The Mercer women's basketball team will put the kibosh on a two-game home stand on Saturday afternoon when the Bears suit up to host Southern Conference rival Furman in the front half of a 2 p.m. Education Day doubleheader at Hawkins Arena. Spectators can enjoy both games for the price of one ticket by visiting MercerBears.com/Tickets.

Fans unable to make the trip to Macon can still follow the action for free via a live statistics link provided by the MU 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.

ABOUT THE GAME
Date: Saturday, January 25 Time: 2 p.m. ET Location: Macon, Ga. I Hawkins Arena TV: ESPN+ Listen Live: Sportsmic Network Live Statistics: MercerStats.com Twitter Updates: @Mercer_WBB

ABOUT MERCER
The Bears (6-13, 1-3 SoCon) have now dropped three-straight games following Thursday evening's 61-51 setback to Southern Conference-leading Wofford in Hawkins Arena. Mercer committed a season-low seven turnovers and tacked up a season-best five 3-pointers, but the Terriers went 22-for-27 from the free throw line, while also shooting 62.5 percent in the fourth quarter, to fuel the final outcome. Senior Nahawa Diarra has shot better than 41 percent (21-for-51) from the field over her last five starts while averaging 12.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game across that stretch. The Barcelona, Spain, product tallied a season- and MU career-best 17 points in Thursday's setback to Wofford, including a 5-for-6 clip from the charity stripe. The Orange & Black will bring a Southern Conference-best 3.0 blocks per game into Saturday's contest, while also boasting the league's third-best free throw-shooting squad (73.9 percent). The Bears have held four of their last five opponents to sub-39 percent shooting, including Thursday's outing in which MU limited the SoCon-leading Terriers to just a 37 percent success rate from the field. Mercer leads the all-time series with Furman, 25-7, and has won 20 of the last 23 matchups with the Paladins dating all the way back to the 2014-15 season. The Bears are 11-3 all-time against the Paladins in Hawkins Arena, and have captured nine of the last 10 meetings with Furman in Macon. The home team has won each of the last two outings.

SCOUTING FURMAN
The Paladins (11-9, 1-3 SoCon) have now lost three of their last four outings with Thursday's 77-62 road loss to Samford. It was the first Southern Conference win of the season for the Bulldogs who outscored the visitors 43-25 in the second and third quarters while also shooting a season-best 50 percent from the field. Senior guard Tate Walters is one of three players boasting double-digit scoring averages for the Paladins through 20 games. Walters has connected on nearly 43 percent of her field goal attempts, including a 28-for-78 (.359) clip from the perimeter, on the way to 13.2 points an outing. On the inside, Furman will look to senior forward Kate Johnson who boasts a 60.3 percent shooting rate, while also averaging 11.9 points and a team-best 7.1 boards per game. The Paladins pull down a Southern Conference-best 15.1 offensive rebounds per game (25^th NCAA), and boast the nation's 28^th-best rebounding margin (+7.8) as well. Furman has won the boards 13 times in 2024-25, and have out-rebounded four opponents by 20 or more. Offensively, the Paladins have averaged nearly 18 free throw attempts an outing so far this season, but are shooting just 67.2 percent from the charity stripe.

ON DECK
Mercer will open up a three-game road trip on Thursday when they make the long trek to western North Carolina to take on UNC Greensboro (12-6, 3-1 SoCon) in Fleming Gym. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

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.

Bears Host Furman To Tip Off Saturday Doubleheader

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Players Mentioned

Nahawa Diarra

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