Turnovers Help Bears Rattle Visiting Florida A&M

Tuesday, November 25

Macon, Ga.

7 p.m.

Mercer University

4-3,0-0SoCon

Florida A&M

0-6,0-0SWAC

Florida A&M

Mercer

Turnovers Help Bears Rattle Visiting Florida A&M

11/25/2025 10:48:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

MACON – Mercer scored 28 points off of 24 Florida A&M turnovers and got a double-digit scoring number from five different players on the way to a 75-59 win over the visiting Rattlers on Tuesday evening in Hawkins Arena.

It was the second-straight home win for the Bears (4-3) who shot 48.5 percent from the field amid a dominant second-half effort that fueled the result. It was the ninth-straight setback dating back to last season for Florida A&M (0-6) who has now dropped four-straight games in the series with the Orange & Black.

THE BASICS

SCORE: Mercer 75, Florida A&M 59
RECORDS: Mercer 4-3 (0-0 SoCon); Florida A&M 0-6 (0-0 SWAC)
LOCATION: Macon, Ga. (Hawkins Arena)

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST QUARTER

Mercer connected on just 20 percent of their shot attempts in the opening period, but forced nine turnovers through the first 10 minutes to take a 15-11 advantage. The Rattlers led 9-6 after Tahnyjia Purifoy hit the front end of a two-shot foul at the 2:19 mark, but the Bears closed out the quarter with a 9-2 run to surge ahead for good.

2ND QUARTER

The hosts found their shooting hand in the second period and scored eight of the first 10 points in the period to extend their lead out to double digits, 23-13, just 2-1/2 minutes in. Florida A&M whittled its deficit all the way down to four points, 29-25, but MU got consecutive buckets from Ariana Bennett and Talia Harris to lug a 33-25 lead into the intermission.

3RD QUARTER

Mercer held its guests scoreless through the first 4-1/2 minutes of the third quarter and used the scoring drought to push its lead out to double digits for good. The Bears tacked up the first eight points of the stanza before yielding three-straight points by FAMU, but then answered with a 3-pointer from the hands of Abigail Holtman with 3:23 remaining to go up by 20 points.

4TH QUARTER

The Bears shot 53.3 percent from the field in the final quarter and led by as many as 23 points, 61-38, following Micah O'Dell's second-chance layup with 6:49 left to play before hitting cruise control. Florida A&M attempted to chop away at its lead, but could only get as close as 14 points, 73-59, with 41 ticks remaining.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

+ Seniors Ariana Bennett and Nahawa Diarra both turned in a team-best 13 points. Diarra complemented her point total with a team-high six boards, while Bennett added five rebounds, two steals and a block.
+ Junior Micah O'Dell chipped in a dozen points, including a pair of 3-pointers, while also tallying three rebounds, three steals and a pair of assists.
+ Newcomers Abigail Holtman and Talia Kemp scored 11 and 10 points, respectively. Holtman went 3-for-8 from beyond the arch, while Kemp posted a game-high five assists and two steals.

NOTABLES

+ The Bears have now registered consecutive home wins for the first time since downing North Carolina A&T and Charleston Southern in mid-November last season.
+ Mercer has now tallied 14 or more assists in four of the last five games. The hosts notched assists on exactly half (14-of-28) of their made field goals on Tuesday.
+ The Bears also registered a season-best 21 offensive rebounds against Florida A&M – their best performance on the offensive boards since recording 19 offensive rebounds in a 59-48 home victory over Charleston Southern on Nov. 22, 2024.

UP NEXT

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BACK THE BEARS

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