Mercer Faces UNC Greensboro In Home, Regular Season Finale

MACON – Mercer will close the lid on the regular season portion of its 2024-25 schedule on Saturday when the Bears lace up to take on Southern Conference regular season champion UNC Greensboro in the front half of a women's and men's basketball doubleheader at Hawkins Arena.

Fans unable to make the trip to Macon can still follow the action for free via a live statistics link provided by the Mercer athletics department. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+, and is also scheduled to hit the airwaves on the Sportsmic App with veteran broadcaster Rick Cameron handling the play-by-play duties. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by visiting MercerBears.com/Tickets.

ABOUT THE GAME
Date: Saturday, March 1 Time: 2 p.m. ET Location: Macon, Ga. I Hawkins Arena TV: ESPN+ Live Statistics: MercerStats.com Listen Live: Mercer Sports Network – Sportsmic Twitter Updates: @Mercer_WBB

ABOUT MERCER
The Bears (8-20, 3-10 SoCon) snapped a five-game losing skid, while also locking up the No. 7 seed in next week's conference tournament, with a 51-49 triumph over visiting Western Carolina on Thursday evening in Macon. Mercer scored four-straight points to take a five-point lead with just more than two minutes left to play, and then used a pair of late defensive stands to hold off the Catamounts. Junior Ariana Bennett ranks 14^th among Southern Conference leaders with 10.8 points per game and has turned in a double-digit scoring number in seven of her last nine starts … Senior Ashlee Locke has connected on nearly 56 percent (35-for-63) of her field goal attempts over the last seven outings, while also tacking up 5.6 rebounds, 2.7 blocks and 2.6 assists across that stretch … Senior Nahawa Diarra has averaged a team-best 11.5 points in 13 SoCon contests in 2024-25, and has tallied 13 of her 15 made 3-point field goals against SoCon foes as well. Mercer has limited opponents to just 38.3 percent shooting and 59.7 points per game in Hawkins Arena this season … The Bears have committed 10 or fewer turnovers in each of their last two contests, including just nine in Thursday's win over Western Carolina … MU leads the 8-team Southern Conference with 3.3 blocks an outing, and has turned in 4.1 swats per game over its last eight contests … The Orange & Black is 7-3 in home finales as a member of the Southern Conference. Mercer leads the 47-year-old (1978-79) series with UNC Greensboro, 18-7, and is 18-7 all-time against the Spartans in Macon … The home team has captured the last three meetings in the series, including a 70-37 win by UNCG earlier this season in the Tarheel State … Mercer registered a 76-52 win over the Spartans the last time the series shifted to Hawkins Arena (Jan. 18, 2024).

SCOUTING UNC GREENSBORO
The Spartans (21-6, 12-1 SoCon) pushed their win streak out to 10 games with a 71-59 victory at Samford on Saturday. The Bulldogs took a 31-30 lead into the locker rooms, but UNC Greensboro shot 66.7 percent (18-for-27) in the second half and bridged the third and fourth quarters with a momentum-changing 15-2 run to fuel the comeback win. Senior Jayde Gamble and freshman Nya Smith both rank among the Southern Conference's top 10 scorers with 12.3 and 11.4 points per game, respectively … Smith has started in just four games this season, but has still managed to average 23.8 minutes per game on the floor and has scored 10 or more points in 17 of the last 19 outings for the Spartans … Graduate forward Khalis Cain has been pivotal down low for UNCG, chipping in 7.5 points and a team-best 8.5 rebounds per game. Defense has been the calling card this year for the Spartans who rank 5^th, nationally, with 52.5 points allowed per game … UNC Greensboro has held 12 opponents to 53 or fewer points in 2024-25 thanks, in large part, to a SoCon-best 9.6 steals per game … The Spartans have also committed a SoCon-low 14.3 fouls an outing this year as well.

ON DECK
Mercer will head to Asheville, N.C., on Thursday for the quarterfinals round of the 2025 Southern Conference Tournament. The Bears have locked up the No. 7 seed for the event, and will face the winner of Saturday's league battle between Wofford and Chattanooga at 1:15 p.m.

FOLLOW THE BEARS
For complete coverage of Mercer Basketball, follow the Bears on social media at @Mercer_WBB (X/Twitter), /MercerWBB (Facebook) and @Mercer_wbb (Instagram) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com.

Mercer Faces UNC Greensboro In Home, Regular Season Finale

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ariana Bennett

Nahawa Diarra

Ashlee Locke

Footer