Mercer Grits Out Overtime Win At Tulane

Sunday, December 21

New Orleans, La.

2:30 p.m.

Mercer University

9-5,0-0SoCon

Tulane

5-7,0-0American

OT 1

Mercer

Tulane

12/21/2025 6:02:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

NEW ORLEANS – Mercer took the lead for good on a pair of free throws from senior Nahawa Diarra with 36 seconds left in the overtime period, and then used a pair of late defensive stands to hold off Tulane, 70-67, in the championship game of the Tulane Holiday Tournament on Sunday in Devlin Fieldhouse.

It was the fourth-straight win for the Bears (9-5) who moved to 5-4 away from Macon this season with the result as well. It was the fourth home loss of the season for the Green Wave (5-7) who failed to secure top honors in the Tulane Holiday Tournament for the first time since the 2019-20 campaign.

Junior Abigail Holtman claimed Tournament Most Valuable Player honors after averaging 19.0 points on the weekend, including a career-best scoring output on Sunday, and was joined on the all-tournament team by Diarra. The championship game featured 10 tie scores and 13 lead changes. Mercer led for nearly 20 minutes of action (19:55), while the game was even for nearly nine minutes (8:52).

THE BASICS

SCORE: Mercer 70, Tulane 67 (OT)
RECORDS: Mercer 9-5 (0-0 SoCon); Tulane 5-7 (0-0 AAC)
LOCATION: New Orleans, La. (Avron B. Fogelman Arena)

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST QUARTER

Shiloh Kimpson gave the Green Wave an early 9-5 advantage with a free throw at the 3:56 mark, but Abigail Holtman's 3-point play on the other end of the court sparked the Bears on a 12-1 run over the next four minutes that eventually gave them a 17-10 lead with less than a minute left. Tulane got a trio of free throws in the final 48 seconds to make it a 17-13 contest through 10 minutes of play.

2ND QUARTER

The sides combined for 13 turnovers in the second period and, inevitably, settled for a 25-all stalemate heading into the locker rooms. Mercer used a 3-pointer from Lex Brewster with 2:17 left before the break to give the visitors a 25-21 lead, but Tulane used a pair of layups over the next 1-1/2 minutes to give the game its fifth tie score.

3RD QUARTER

Mercer came out of the halftime gates with the hot hand, converting on nearly 43 percent (6-for-14) of their field goal attempts, including a quarter of 3-pointers, but the game remained tied through three periods, nonetheless. Tulane pushed its lead out to eight points, 34-26, on two free throws from Amira Mabry at the 8:04 mark, but the Bears responded with a 14-4 run over the next five minutes to even things back up again.

4TH QUARTER

The Bears canned half of their 12 field goal attempts in the fourth quarter, including a 3-pointer from Nahawa Diarra that gave the visitors a 63-57 lead with 2:55 left to play, but Tulane fought back to send the game into overtime. The Green Wave converted two-straight buckets off of MU turnovers to make it a one-possession game, 63-61 with 37 ticks left, and then used a driving layup from Kendall Sneed with 0.4 seconds showing to finish off the damage.

OVERTIME

Points, certainly, came at a premium in the extra frame as the teams combined for a 1-for-15 shooting clip, including a 1-for-12 performance from the Green Wave. Tulane converted the only field goal in overtime to take a slight 67-65 advantage, but Mercer cut its deficit in half on Rania Curry's free throw at the 3:08 mark, and then took the final lead of the afternoon on a pair of Nahawa Diarra free throws with 36 seconds to play. Lex Brewster hauled in a rebound off of a missed layup from Kendall Sneed with 12 seconds left, and then drained two free throws on the other end of the court to provide the final margin.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

+ Junior Abigail Holtman scored 14 of her career- and game-high 27 points in the third quarter alone, and finished the day with an 8-for-17 shooting clip, including a 4-for-8 success rate from the perimeter. Holtman also flirted with her first career double-double by pulling down nine rebounds and adding a pair of blocks.
+ Senior Nahawa Diarra chipped in 16 points, while also registering three rebounds and a trio of assists. It was the 10^th time this season that Diarra has produced 10 or more points.
+ Newcomers proved to be huge in Sunday's win as freshman Rania Curry tallied a season-best 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting, while junior transfer Lex Brewster turned in five points, five rebounds, two steals and a pair of assists.

NOTABLES

+ The Bears have now won four-straight games dating back to a 23-point home victory over Mississippi Valley State a week ago. Mercer improved to 5-4 away from Macon this season with Sunday's triumph, including three wins in true road games. The Orange & Black went 3-11 in true road games last season.
+ Sunday's contest marked the first overtime game for the Bears since a 78-75 home win over Austin Peay on Dec. 2, 2023. It was the first road overtime win for Mercer since a 71-70 decision at Tennessee State on Dec. 5, 2021.
+ MU has now turned in double-digit assists and double-digit steals in four-straight outings after posting 15 assists and 10 steals in Sunday's win. The Bears have posted five or more blocks in four-straight games as well (5 vs. Tulane).

UP NEXT

Mercer will get an 11-day hiatus from competition before resuming its 2025-26 schedule on January 2 against Auburn Montgomery in Hawkins Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased by visiting MercerBears.com/Tickets.

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