UNC Greensboro Too Tall For Visiting Mercer

Thursday, January 30

Greensboro, N.C.

7 p.m.

Mercer University

6-15,1-5SoCon

UNC Greensboro

14-6,5-1SoCon

Mercer

UNC Greensboro

1/30/2025 9:19:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score

By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Red-hot UNC Greensboro scored 26 points off of 16 Mercer turnovers and bridged the second and third quarters with a 25-5 run to cruise past the Bears, 70-37, on Thursday evening in Fleming Gym.

It was the fifth-straight loss for Mercer (6-15, 1-5 SoCon) who fell to 2-8 away from home this season with the setback as well. UNC Greensboro (14-6, 5-1) pushed their home win streak out to 14 games with the decision, including a perfect 10-0 mark in Fleming Gym across the current campaign.

THE BASICS

SCORE: UNC Greensboro 70, Mercer 37
RECORDS: Mercer 6-15 (1-5 SoCon); UNC Greensboro 14-6 (5-1 SoCon)
LOCATION: Greensboro, N.C. (Fleming Gym)

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST QUARTER

Mercer shot lights out in the opening period, converting on seven of its 15 shot attempts (.467), while also tallying a quartet of assists. UNC Greensboro countered with seven second-chance points on as many rebounds, however, and used an 8-for-9 tally from the free throw line to forge a 22-14 advantage after 10 minutes of play.

2ND QUARTER

The Spartans scored the first seven points of the second period and eventually pushed their lead out to 19 points, 33-14, on Jayde Gamble's 3-pointer at the 3:10 mark. MU registered its first points of the quarter 30 seconds later on an old-fashioned 3-pointer from Kayla Smith, but Nia Howard's turnaround jumper with four ticks left allowed the hosts to take a 35-17 lead into intermission.

3RD QUARTER

UNC Greensboro put the finishing touches on a 25-5 run with Nya Smith's 3-pointer with 3:24 left that gave the hosts a 47-19 lead, but the Bears showed their mettle the rest of the way out in the period. Talia Harris drained a 3-pointer at the 2:17 mark, and Nahawa Diarra followed with a driving layup on MU's next possession, but the Spartans still managed to tote a 51-24 lead into the fourth quarter.

4TH QUARTER

UNC Greensboro pushed its lead out to 30 points, 55-25, with Makiah Asidanya's fast-break layup just more than a minute into the final period. Mercer went punch-for-punch with the Spartans for the next six minutes, before the hosts tacked up five-straight points to grab its largest lead of the night, 70-35, on Kelly Boyle's short jumper with 30 seconds remaining.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

+ Freshman Talia Harris scored a team-high 13 points on 6-for-12 shooting, while also totaling four rebounds, two assists and a block.
+ Junior Ariana Bennett added 10 points and a block despite sitting out a bulk of the opening half with foul trouble. She tallied eight of her points on 3-for-7 shooting in the fourth quarter alone.
+ Junior Chelsy Bautista came in off of the bench and pulled down a team-best five rebounds, while also turning in three assists and one block in 25 minutes of action.

NOTABLES

+ Mercer registered four or more blocks for the third time in the last five games against the Spartans on Thursday. Four different players recorded swats in the setback.
+ The home team has won each of the last three matchups in the series between the Spartans and the Bears. Mercer was the last to grab a road win in the series via a 65-46 triumph on Feb. 4, 2023, in Fleming Gym.
+ The Spartans have now won 28 of their last 29 games in Fleming Gym dating back to the 2022-23 season. UNC Greensboro improved to 10-0 at home this season with Thursday's victory, but also registered a 15-1 mark at home in 2023-24.

UP NEXT

The Bears will play the second leg of a three-game road trip on Saturday when they head to Cullowhee, N.C., to take on Western Carolina (11-9, 1-4 SoCon) at Ingles Court. Start time is scheduled for 1 p.m. The Catamounts dropped a 90-86 decision to visiting Samford on Thursday evening.

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BACK THE BEARS

Fans can help support the Mercer athletics department by making a gift to the Mercer Athletic Foundation. To find out more information about the Mercer Athletic Foundation, email maf@mercer.edu.