Bears Have Win Streak Stopped At UNC Greensboro

Saturday, January 10

Greensboro, N.C.

2 p.m.

Mercer University

11-6,1-1SoCon

UNC Greensboro

12-5,2-0SoCon

Mercer

UNC Greensboro

Bears Have Win Streak Stopped At UNC Greensboro

1/10/2026 3:16:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

GREENSBORO, N.C. – UNC Greensboro shot 52.4 percent from the perimeter, including an 8-for-11 mark in the first half alone, and scored 24 points off of 21 Mercer turnovers to fuel a 76-59 win over the visiting Bears on Saturday afternoon in Bodford Arena.

The decision snapped a six-game win streak for the Bears (11-6, 1-1 SoCon) who had not tasted defeat since a December 6 setback at Jacksonville State. The Spartans (12-5, 2-0) posted their fourth-straight win in the series with MU, while also stretching their overall win streak out to seven games.

THE BASICS

SCORE: UNC Greensboro 76, Mercer 59
RECORDS: Mercer 11-6 (1-1 SoCon); UNC Greensboro 12-5 (2-0 SoCon)
LOCATION: Greensboro, N.C. (Bodford Arena)

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST QUARTER

The two sides went nip-and-tuck for a good portion of the game's first eight minutes, but the Spartans tacked up the period's last seven points to forge a 21-12 advantage through one period of play. UNC Greensboro canned half of their field goal attempts through the first 10 minutes, including a 4-for-5 mark from downtown.

2ND QUARTER

The Bears dug into their early deficit with an early surge in the second quarter, but UNCG carried over its perimeter assault from the opening 10 minutes and eventually pulled away again. A long 3-pointer from Ciara Harris at the 4:15 mark opened up an 11-4 run for the hosts who inevitably toted a 41-28 lead into the intermission.

3RD QUARTER

Nahawa Diarra opened the scoring for both teams on a driving layup just eight seconds into the third period, but the Spartans answered with a 20-6 run over the next seven minutes to eventually pad their advantage out to 25 points, 61-36, on Mia Simpson's layup at the 2:13 mark. The Bears went without a made field goal for than six minutes in the period – a drought that was eventually snapped on Rania Curry's layup with 1:20 left.

4TH QUARTER

UNC Greensboro saw its shooting hand cool in the final period, and Mercer was able to take advantage late. Ciara Davis gave the Spartans a 71-47 lead on a layup with 7:13 remaining, but the Bears whittled away at their deficit, eventually pulling to within 17 points, 74-57, on Stephanie Utomi's fastbreak layup five minutes later.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

+ Senior Nahawa Diarra scored 10 of her team-high 17 points in the second half, while also registering six rebounds and a steal. She was 3-for-6 from the field across the final 10 minutes of the afternoon, while also going 4-for-4 from the free throw line.
+ Senior Ariana Bennett registered 13 points, three rebounds and a pair of blocks in 26 minutes of action.
+ Sophomore Stephanie Utomi came off the bench to chip in 10 points on 3-for-4 field goal shooting, as well as a 4-for-7 clip from the charity stripe.

NOTABLES

+ Saturday's decision snapped a six-game win streak for the Bears – the longest win skein for the program since the 2021-22 squad rattled off 12-straight wins before falling to UConn in the NCAA Tournament.
+ Mercer tallied three blocks on Saturday against the Spartans, and have now turned in three or more swats in eight-straight games. The five steals on Saturday, however, snapped a string of six-straight games with 10 or more steals.
+ The Bears went 16-for-21 from the free throw line at UNC Greensboro to mark the eight time this season that the squad has canned at least 75 percent of its free throw tries.

UP NEXT

Mercer will open up a three-game home stand on January 17 when it suits up to take on Samford in Hawkins Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. and tickets can be purchased by visiting MercerBears.com/Tickets.

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BACK THE BEARS

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