Bears Get Quick Start, Run Past Charleston Southern

Friday, November 28

Charleston, S.C.

2 p.m.

Mercer University

5-3,0-0SoCon

Charleston Southern

1-6,0-0Big South

Mercer

Charleston Southern

Bears Get Quick Start, Run Past Charleston Southern

11/28/2025 3:19:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Visiting Mercer scored the first 15 points of the afternoon to spark a dominant first-half effort, and the Bears cruised to their third road win of the season with a convincing 71-45 win over Charleston Southern on Friday afternoon in Buccaneer Fieldhouse.

It was the third win in the last four outings for Mercer (5-3) who shot nearly 54 percent from the field in the opening half, while also forcing eight turnovers. Charleston Southern (1-6) dipped to 1-2 in home outings this season, while also falling to 6-7 all-time in the series with the Orange & Black.

THE BASICS

SCORE: Mercer 71, Charleston Southern 45
RECORDS: Mercer 5-3 (0-0 SoCon); Charleston Southern 1-6 (0-0 BSC)
LOCATION: Charleston, S.C. (Buccaneer Fieldhouse)

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST QUARTER

Mercer shot 4-for-5 from the field, including a trio of 3-pointers, to forge a 15-0 lead in the opening 4-1/2 minutes of the contest, and eventually closed out the period with a 7-0 run to take a 22-8 lead through 10 minutes of play. Charleston Southern went 0-for-8 from the field with four turnovers amid MU's blistering game-opening run.

2ND QUARTER

The Bears carried their hot shooting hand into the second stanza, connecting on exactly half of their 16 shot attempts in the period, to inevitably lug a 39-17 advantage into the intermission. CSU whittled its deficit down to single digits, 25-16, on a layup from Alaina Nettles at the 7:33 mark, but the visitors closed out the half with a 14-1 run to reestablish their dominance.

3RD QUARTER

Points came at a premium for both sides in the third quarter, but the Bears were still able to maintain their cushion throughout thanks to a 4-for-6 clip from the perimeter. The Bears flirted with a 30-point lead following Micah O'Dell's trey with 2:43 left to play in the stanza, but the Bucs closed out the quarter with five-straight points.

4TH QUARTER

Mercer turned in a modest shooting percentage in the final period, but forced four more turnovers, while also canning a quartet of free throws, to close out the dominant victory. Nahawa Diarra gave the visitors a 27-point lead, 60-33, on a 3-pointer just less than two minutes in, and the Bears hit cruise control the rest of the way out.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

+ Senior Ariana Bennett turned in a career- and game-high 24 points on 10-for-14 field goal shooting. She also added three rebounds and an assist.
+ Senior Nahawa Diarra fueled a 17-point outing with a 5-for-6 showing from 3-point territory, and complemented her scoring with four rebounds and an assist.
+ Sophomore Talia Kemp flirted with a double-double, tallying 10 points, eight assists and a quartet of steals.

NOTABLES

+ The Bears shot 45.6 percent from the field on Friday and have now connected on at least 43.9 percent of their shot attempts in four games this season. The offensive show also included a 9-for-18 clip from the perimeter – the second time this season (Jackson State) that MU has connected on half of their 3-point attempts.
+ Mercer's 26-point win on Friday marked its largest margin of victory since registering a 78-44 triumph over Western Carolina on Jan. 20, 2024. It is the largest margin of victory in a road game since MU trounced Samford, 87-59, in Birmingham, Ala., on Feb. 3, 2024.
+ MU out-rebounded its opponent (47-36) for the fifth time this season amid Friday's win, while also posting its largest rebounding disparity (+11) in 2025-26.
+ The Bears matched a season-high (Gardner-Webb) with 18 assists against the Buccaneers, and have now turned in 14 or more assists in five of their last six outings.

UP NEXT

Mercer will play the second leg of its three-game road trip on Wednesday when it heads to Buies Creek, N.C., to take on Campbell inside Gore Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

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BACK THE BEARS

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