Mercer Rolls Past Visiting Erskine In A Screamer

Wednesday, December 17

Macon, Ga.

11 a.m.

Mercer University

7-5,0-0SoCon

Erskine

1-5,0-2Conference Carolinas

Erskine

Mercer

Mercer Rolls Past Visiting Erskine In A Screamer

12/17/2025 4:03:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

MACON – Ariana Bennett gave home-standing Mercer the lead for good on a tip-in just 20 seconds into the contest and the Bears registered their most lopsided victory in 45 years with a 91-37 win over visiting Erskine on Wednesday inside Hawkins Arena.

It was the fourth-straight home win for Mercer (7-5) who posted its largest margin of victory since a 133-42 (+81) win over Furman that opened the 1980-81 campaign. Wednesday morning's decision also marked just the sixth 50+-point win in the 56-year history of the program.

The Flying Fleet (1-4) moved to 0-3 in exhibition contests against NCAA Division I teams this season, but their overall win-loss record remained unchanged despite Wednesday's result.

THE BASICS

SCORE: Mercer 91, Erskine 34
RECORDS: Mercer 7-5 (0-0 SoCon); Erskine 1-4 (0-0 CC)
LOCATION: Macon, Ga. (Hawkins Arena)

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST QUARTER

The Bears scored 15 of the game's first 16 points and did not allow the Flying Fleet to convert a field goal attempt until the 3:01 mark on the way to forging a 23-3 advantage through 10 minutes of play. Mercer scored 10 points off of six turnovers in the frame, while also converting eight offensive rebounds into 11 second-chance points.

2ND QUARTER

Mercer canned 47.6 percent (10-for-21) of its field goal attempts in the second quarter and inevitably rode a 49-11 lead into the intermission. Erskine scored four-straight points late in the stanza to trim its deficit back to 34 points, 43-9, but the hosts answered with a Talia Kemp triple on the other end of the court, and then used a steal to fuel a fast-break layup from Elena Cabello 15 seconds later.

3RD QUARTER

The Bears carried their hot shooting hand into the third quarter, connecting on half of their 20 attempts from the field, and padded their lead out to 51 points, 72-21, heading to the fourth period. Mercer pushed its lead out to 40 points, 53-13, on Stephanie Utomi's fast-break layup less than a minute into the stanza, and used a 12-2 run later in the period to eventually open up a 50-point lead, 67-17, following Nahawa Diarra's layup at the 1:44 mark.

4TH QUARTER

Mercer tacked up four-straight points to extend its lead out to 53 points, 78-25, just less than three minutes into the fourth quarter, and then padded the accelerator for a good portion of next three minutes. Erskine scored seven-straight points to make it an 80-34 game at the 4:44 mark, but the hosts closed out the contest with 11 of the final 15 points to provide the final.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

+ Sophomore Stephanie Utomi poured in a game-best 24 points on 6-for-8 field goal shooting, as well as a 12-for-16 clip from the free throw line. She also registered six rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block.
+ Freshman Remi-Hope Drantmann registered her first career double-double with 10 points and a game-best 17 rebounds. Drantmann, who had nine points and 11 boards in the first half alone, tallied the most rebounds by a Mercer player since Jaron Dougherty collected 20 boards in a 61-57 home win over Appalachian State on Nov. 11, 2021.
+ Senior Nahawa Diarra turned in her third career double-double (2^nd at Mercer) with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while also adding three steals and a career-best seven assists.
+ Senior Ariana Bennett scored all 10 of her points on 4-for-9 shooting in the opening half. She recorded four rebounds as well.

NOTABLES

+ Mercer has now registered six wins of 50 or more points in the 56-year history of its program, with Wednesday's triumph ranking third among the most lopsided wins. The most lopsided win for the Bears was a 133-42 rout of Furman on Nov. 29, 1980.
+ The Bears logged assists on 21 of their 34 (.617) made field goal attempts on Wednesday. It the most assists for the program since collecting 24 in a 28-point win at Samford on Feb. 3, 2024. Mercer's 16 steals against Erskine was its most since registering the same amount of pick-pockets in a 67-53 home win over Wofford on Jan. 22, 2022.
+ The Bears out-rebounded Erskine, 67-29 (+38), on Wednesday – their largest rebounding disparity over an opponent in more than 1-1/2 decades.

UP NEXT

The Bears will pack up their show and head to New Orleans, La., this weekend to take part in the Tulane Holiday Tournament inside the Avron B. Fogelman Arena. Mercer is scheduled to take on Detroit Mercy (3-5) in Friday's tournament opener at 3:30 p.m. The Bears will battle either Tulane or Delaware State on Sunday in the Big Easy with a tipoff time to be determined.

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