Chattanooga Finishes Off Season Sweep Of Bears

Thursday, February 13

Macon, Ga.

7 p.m.

Mercer University

7-17,2-7SoCon

Chattanooga

12-11,7-3SoCon

Chattanooga

Mercer

Chattanooga Finishes Off Season Sweep Of Bears

2/13/2025 10:45:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score

By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

MACON – Visiting Chattanooga scored 19 points off of 15 Mercer turnovers and shot better than 47 percent from the field on the way to a 69-39 victory over the Bears on Thursday evening in Hawkins Arena.

The setback marked the second-straight home loss for the Bears (7-17, 2-7 SoCon) who canned 53.8 percent of their field goal attempts in the fourth quarter, but were unable to whittle away at their deficit. It was the third win in the last four outings for the defending Southern Conference champions, while also marking the seventh-straight series win for the Mocs (12-11, 7-3).

THE BASICS

SCORE: Chattanooga 69, Mercer 39
RECORDS: Mercer 7-17 (2-7 SoCon); Chattanooga 12-11 (7-3 SoCon)
LOCATION: Macon, Ga. (Hawkins Arena)

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST QUARTER

Chattanooga limited the Bears to just a pair of field goals in the opening period, and scored 15 of the game's first 17 points to take control early. The Bears scored their first points of the first quarter on a pair of free throws from Ariana Bennett at the 7:51 mark, but the Mocs responded with 11-straight points and eventually took a 15-6 advantage into the second stanza.

2ND QUARTER

Both teams exhibited the hot hand from the field in the second period, but Chattanooga rattled off nine-straight points midway through to pad their lead. Nahawa Diarra made it a two-possession game, 19-13, with a short jumper just less than three minutes in, but the visitors closed out the opening half with a 14-4 run to lug a 33-17 lead into the locker rooms.

3RD QUARTER

The Mocs canned 57.1 percent (8-for-14) of their field goal attempts in the third period, while limiting the Bears to just a trio of buckets, on the way to registering a 19-6 scoring advantage in the stanza. Chattanooga pushed its lead out to 30 points, 51-21, on a Frode Flos Van Der Schans bucket with 3:31 left.

4TH QUARTER

The Bears put up 16 points on 53.8 percent field goal shooting in the final period, but the visitors nearly matched that effort in keeping MU at bay. The hosts rattled off five-straight points in the early going to dig into the lead, but UTC answered with a 10-1 run and led by as many as 35 points, 66-31, on Karsen Murphy's layup with two minutes to play.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

+ Senior Ashlee Locke registered a team-best 10 points on 50 percent (4-for-8) field goal shooting, while also turning in six rebounds, four blocks and a pair of assists.
+ Senior Nahawa Diarra and junior Chelsy Bautista chipped in eight points apiece. Bautista added six rebounds and a block, while Diarra tallied an assist and two steals.
+ Freshman Talia Harris compiled a season-best seven assists. She also recorded four points and as many rebounds.

NOTABLES

+ Mercer's 53.8 percent shooting effort in the fourth quarter marked the ninth time this season that MU has canned at least half of its field goal attempts in the final period. The Bears shot a season-best 66.7 percent (10-for-15) amid a fourth-quarter comeback effort at Western Carolina.
+ The Bears turned in five or more blocks for the fifth time in 2024-25, and have now racked up 20 swats over their last four outings.
+ UTC improved to 25-11 in the all-time series with Mercer. The Mocs have now captured seven-straight games with the Bears, and improved to 10-7 in Hawkins Arena with Thursday's result.

UP NEXT

Mercer will close out a short two-game home stand on Saturday when they take on East Tennessee State (14-11, 5-5 SoCon) in the front half of a 2 p.m. women's and men's basketball doubleheader in Hawkins Arena. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by visiting MercerBears.com/Tickets.

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