Wofford Slips Past Visiting Mercer In Final Seconds

Saturday, February 22

Spartanburg, S.C.

6 p.m.

Mercer University

7-20,2-10SoCon

Wofford

16-9,8-4SoCon

Mercer

Wofford

Wofford Slips Past Visiting Mercer In Final Seconds

2/22/2025 9:21:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score

By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Home-standing Wofford used a pair of free throws with seven seconds left to grab a one-point lead and then held its breath as Talia Harris's potential game-winning jumper careened off the side of the rim as the Terriers held on to beat the Bears, 65-64, on Saturday evening at the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.

The gut-wrencher marked the third-straight final-seconds loss for Mercer (7-20, 2-10 SoCon) who closed out the road portion of its 2024-25 regular season schedule with the decision as well. It was the second win in the last six outings for Wofford (16-9, 8-4) who put the finishing touches on a 12-4 home record as well.

THE BASICS

SCORE: Wofford 65, Mercer 64
RECORDS: Mercer 7-20 (2-10 SoCon); Wofford 16-9 (8-4 SoCon)
LOCATION: Spartanburg, S.C. (Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium)

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST QUARTER

Mercer came out of the gates on fire, shooting 53.3 percent (8-for-15) in the opening stanza on the way to forging a 17-13 lead after 10 minutes of play. Stephanie Utomi's running jumper with 4-1/2 minutes left helped the Bears stake claim to a 13-4 advantage, but the Terriers tacked up nine of the game's next 11 points to climb back in it.

2ND QUARTER

The Bears limited the hosts to just a quartet of baskets in the second period and eventually carried a 34-24 lead into the break. Wofford pulled to within a point, 21-20, following a pair of free throws from Mia Flor just less than four minutes in, but Nahawa Diarra's jumper 14 seconds later ignited a 13-2 run for the Orange & Black that spanned a good portion of the next five minutes.

3RD QUARTER

Wofford made it a one-possession game, 42-40, on Molly Masingale's 3-pointer midway through the third, but Mercer responded with an 11-2 run to push its advantage out to 52-41 three minutes later. The Terriers continued to hang around, however, and scored the final five points of the third period to make it a 52-46 affair heading to the final quarter.

4TH QUARTER

The Terriers scored 12 of the first 16 points in the first quarter to eventually build a 61-56 lead with just less than five minutes left, but the Bears roared back with eight-straight points, including a go-ahead 3 pointer from Talia Harris with 64 seconds left, to surge back in front, 64-61. Wofford cut their deficit to one point 20 seconds later, and took a 65-64 advantage on two free throws from Molly Masingale with seven seconds left. Mercer's inbounds play coming out of a timeout got the ball back to Harris, but her potential winning shot bounced twice on the rim before coming down on the floor.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

+ Senior Nahawa Diarra scored a team-best 18 points on 7-for-15 field goal shooting, while also adding seven rebounds and a pair of assists.
+ Junior Ariana Bennett added 15 points on 6-for10 shooting, and narrowly missed a double-double with nine rebounds as well. Bennett also turned in two assists, one block and a steal.
+ Chelsy Bautista came off of the bench to record a season-high 13 points in 14 minutes of action. The newcomer connected on all four of her field goal attempts, while also turning in a 5-for-5 clip from the charity stripe.

NOTABLES

+ The Bears have dropped their last three games by a combined six points, and all three games have been decided in the last 10 seconds of regulation.
+ Mercer's 25-for-59 (.424) shooting night marked the 11^th time this season that the Bears have connected on at least 40 percent of their field goal attempts. It is the fourth time in the last six games (three-straight games) that MU has accomplished that feat.
+ MU registered a 38-36 advantage in the rebounding column on Saturday – the fifth time this season that it has out-rebounded its opponent.

UP NEXT

Mercer will close the book on the regular season portion of its 2024-25 regular season schedule with a pair of home games next week. The Bears will host a pivotal Southern Conference tilt with Western Carolina (12-15, 2-10 SoCon) on Thursday evening in Hawkins Arena, before taking on regular season champion UNC Greensboro (20-6, 11-1) in the front half of a 2 p.m. women's and men's doubleheader on Saturday in Macon.

STAY CONNECTED

Follow Mercer Women's Basketball on Twitter and Instagram and "Like" Mercer Women's Basketball on Facebook.

BACK THE BEARS

Fans can help support the Mercer athletics department by making a gift to the Mercer Athletic Foundation. To find out more information about the Mercer Athletic Foundation, email maf@mercer.edu.