Bears Head West For Saturday Rematch With Samford

MACON – The Mercer women's basketball team will play the final leg of a three-game road trip on Saturday when the Bears make the short trip to Birmingham, Ala., to take on Southern Conference nemesis Samford inside the Pete Hanna Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET.

Fans unable to make the trip to the Heart of Dixie can still follow the action for free via a live statistics link provided by the Samford athletics department. The game is also scheduled to be broadcasted live on ESPN+.

ABOUT THE GAME
Date: Saturday, February 1 Time: 1 p.m. ET Location: Cullowhee, N.C. I Ingles Court TV: ESPN+ Live Statistics: MercerStats.com Twitter Updates: @Mercer_WBB

ABOUT MERCER
The Bears (7-15, 2-5 SoCon) put the kibosh on a five-game losing streak, as well as a three-game road skid, with a 71-66 come-from-behind win at Western Carolina on Saturday. The Orange & Black rallied all the way back from a 10-point deficit with seven minutes left in regulation, and took the lead for good on Nahawa Diarra's layup with 23 seconds left to fuel the win. MU tacked up 33 of its 71 points in the fourth quarter alone. Senior Nahawa Diarra has averaged 12.0 points per game on 36.7 percent (18-for-49) shooting over her last four starts, while also turning in 4.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.0 steals across that stretch … Diarra scored 14 of Mercer's 33 points in the fourth quarter on Saturday at Western Carolina … Junior Ariana Bennett has put up 15.3 points and 4.3 rebounds over her last three starts, while also canning 53.1 percent (17-for-32) of her field goal attempts over that span. The Bears have shot 40 percent or better from the field in eight contests this season, including five times away from Macon … MU has committed just 14.7 fouls per game this season which ranks third among the eight Southern Conference squads … The Bears have forced more than 15 turnovers per game (15.1) on the road during the 2024-25 campaign, including 15 in Saturday's win at Western Carolina. The Bears lead the all-time series with Samford, 28-10, and will ride an eight-game series win streak into Saturday's contest … MU has outscored the Bulldogs by an average of 12.8 points an outing across their current series winning skein … Mercer has actually captured 20 of the last 24 matchups with their SoCon rivals … The Bears won 16-straight in the series from the 2001-02 through the 2018-19 campaigns, but Samford swept the home-and-home matchups during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons.

SCOUTING SAMFORD
The Bulldogs (7-16, 2-5 SoCon) have churned out a 2-4 record since their 56-53 setback in Hawkins Arena on January 11, including league wins against both Furman and Western Carolina. The Bulldogs dropped a 78-66 decision at UNC Greensboro on Saturday thanks to an 11-for-21 clip from the perimeter. UNCG outscored their visitors, 25-15, in the first quarter to key the final outcome. Junior post player Emily Bowman (11.2 ppg) and sophomore guard Emily Langam (11.0) have proven to be the inside-outside threats for Samford in 2024-25 … Bowman has connected on nearly 52 percent of her field goal attempts, and ranks third among SoCon glass cleaners with 8.1 rebounds a game … Langham has scored 10 or more points in five of her last seven outings and is averaging 13.0 points per game over that span. Saturday's matchup will mark Samford's first appearance at home since an 84-49 loss to visiting Wofford on January 25 which effectively ended two-game home win streak for the Bulldogs … Samford has shot 42 percent from the field on its home floor this season, and has outscored opponents by 12.6 points per game in its previous nine matchups inside the Pete Hanna Center … The Bulldogs have also forced more than 19 turnovers per game (19.2) in Birmingham in 2024-25.

ON DECK
Mercer will open up a short two-game home stand on Saturday when they suit up to take on Chattanooga (10-11, 5-3 SoCon) on Play4Kay/Pink Out Night in Hawkins Arena. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. and tickets can be purchased by visiting MercerBears.com/Tickets.

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.

Bears Head West For Saturday Rematch With Samford

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Players Mentioned

Ariana Bennett

Nahawa Diarra

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