Mercer Falls To Furman In Another Heartbreaker

Thursday, February 20

Greenville, S.C.

7 p.m.

Mercer University

7-19,2-9SoCon

Furman

14-13,4-7SoCon

Mercer

Furman

Mercer Falls To Furman In Another Heartbreaker

2/20/2025 9:45:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score

By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Visiting Mercer bridged the third and fourth quarters with a 17-3 run to grab a seven-point lead with 6-1/2 minutes left in regulation, but Furman closed the game with a 16-7 swing, including a go-ahead layup from Jada Session with 9.5 seconds left, to stun the Bears, 72-70, on Thursday evening in Bob Jones University's Davis Field House.

The setback dropped the Bears (7-19, 2-9 SoCon) to 2-3 in one-possession games this season, and marked the second-straight game in which MU surrendered the winning bucket with less than 10 seconds left to play. The comeback snapped a two-game skid for the Paladins (14-13, 4-7) who improved to 8-3 at home this season with the result as well.

THE BASICS

SCORE: Furman 72, Mercer 70
RECORDS: Mercer 7-19 (2-9 SoCon); Furman 14-13 (4-7 SoCon)
LOCATION: Greenville, S.C. (Davis Field House)

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST QUARTER

Furman shot better than 42 percent in the first quarter, but Mercer got hot midway through and kept the damage at a minimum through the first 10 minutes of play. The Paladins grabbed a 12-5 lead on a short jumper from Raina Mcgowens at the 4:01 mark, and eventually lugged an 18-12 advantage into the second stanza.

2ND QUARTER

The Bears turned the table in the second period, canning 8 of their 18 (.444) field goal attempts, including a quartet of 3-pointers, to pull to within four points, 36-32, at the break. Furman padded its lead out to 10 points, 25-15, just more than three minutes into the period, but Talia Harris's 3-pointer on the ensuing possession sparked an 11-2 run that nearly evened the game heading into the locker rooms.

3RD QUARTER

Both teams came out of the third-quarter gates with the hot hand, and the battle was on. Furman led by seven points, 53-46, after Sydney Ryan's layup at the 2:52 mark, but the Bears answered with six-straight points to make it a one-possession game, 56-54, heading to the final period.

4TH QUARTER

Kayla Smith's fast break layup with 6:28 left to play capped a game-changing 17-3 run for the visitors and gave them a 63-56 advantage, but the Bears turned the ball over five times down the stretch to allow the hosts to swing the momentum back in their favor. Nahawa Diarra gave MU its last lead, 70-68, on a jumper with 61 seconds left, but Furman knotted the score up on a pair of free throws 13 seconds later, forced a turnover on the ensuing possession and took the lead with 9.5 seconds left. Talia Harris wrestled away a rebound as time expired and connected on a bucket, but the basket was waved off following an official review.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

+ Freshman Talia Harris matched a season-high with a game-best 20 points on 8-for-17 shooting, including a dozen points in the second period. Harris also contributed a season-high seven assists and five rebounds as well.
+ Senior Nahawa Diarra tallied 14 points, including a perfect 2-for-2 night from downtown, while also posting five rebounds and four assists.
+ Juniors Ariana Bennett and Kayla Smith chipped in 11 points apiece. Smith canned a trio of 3-pointers on the night, while Bennett went 4-for-7 from the field and matched a team-high with five boards.

NOTABLES

+ The Bears finished the outing with a season-high seven 3-pointers (13 attempts), besting six treys they recorded in Saturday's home loss to East Tennessee State. Mercer hit four 3-pointers in the second quarter alone on Thursday.
+ Mercer tallied 15 assists on 26 made field goals against the Paladins on Thursday marking the fourth time this season that it has registered 15 or more assists in an outing.
+ The Orange & Black reached the 70-point plateau for the fourth time this season as well, and the first time since a 71-66 comeback win at Western Carolina on February 1.

UP NEXT

The Bears will snap the lid on the road portion of their 2024-25 slate on Saturday when they head to nearby Spartanburg, S.C., to take on Southern Conference rival Wofford (15-9, 7-4 SoCon) inside WC's Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.

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BACK THE BEARS

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