Bears Host Furman In Key SoCon Battle On Thursday

MACON – The Mercer women's basketball team will continue its three-game Southern Conference home stand on Thursday when the Bears suit up to battle Furman in a pivotal Southern Conference tilt at Hawkins Arena. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.

Fans unable to make the trip to Macon can still follow the action for free via a live statistics link provided by the MU athletics department. The game is also scheduled to be broadcasted live on ESPN+ with Billy Andrews and Bill Connelly calling the action. Rick Cameron will call all of the action as well Mercer Sports Network, and fans can listen to that broadcast on The Creek 100.9 FM, or by visiting Sportsmic.

ABOUT THE GAME
Date: Thursday, January 22 Time: 7 p.m. ET Location: Macon, Ga. I Hawkins Arena TV: ESPN+ Listen: Sportsmic Live Statistics: MercerBears.com/Live Twitter Updates: @Mercer_WBB

TICKETS
Tickets are still available and can be purchased by visiting MercerBears.com/Tickets.

LAST TIME OUT
Home-standing Mercer scored 31 points off of 23 Samford turnovers and used a bend-but-not-break defensive effort to hold off a last-gasp rally on the way to a 76-67 victory over the Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon in Hawkins Arena. Junior Abigail Holtman scored a game-high 22 points on 6-for-12 shooting, including a quartet of 3-pointers, while senior Ariana Bennett nearly registered her second double-double of the season with 15 points and nine boards. It was the sixth-straight home win for the Orange & Black.

ABOUT MERCER
The Bears (12-6, 2-1 SoCon) have captured seven of their last eight outings, and will ride a six-game home win streak into Hawkins Arena on Saturday. Mercer has averaged 72.0 points per game on nearly 40 percent field goal shooting over its last eight outings, while also forcing 21.0 turnovers and holding opponents to just 59.4 points per game over that stretch as well. Senior Ariana Bennett will bring a team-best 12.5 points per game into the tilt with Furman, but junior sharpshooter Abigail Holtman has turned in 15.5 points per game over her last six starts on the strength of a 41 percent shooting clip from the perimeter.

SCOUTING FURMAN
The Paladins (11-8, 3-1 SoCon) have won nine of their last 12 games since opening the current campaign with a 2-5 mark. Furman has thrived since its 76-58 loss to Clemson on November 23, shooting 42.4 percent from the field while also tacking up 76.3 points per game along the way as well. The Paladins rank 13^th, nationally, with 16.1 offensive rebounds per game (1^st SoCon) and have forced 22.6 turnovers per game (16^th NCAA) on the strength of 12.6 steals an outing (18^th NCAA). Sophomore forward Clare Coyle puts up team-bests in both scoring (14.4 ppg) and rebounding (8.4 rpg), while reigning Southern Conference Player of the Week Alyssa Ervin has contributed 13.1 points an outing.

MERCER/FURMAN SERIES
Mercer has chalked up wins in 25 of the previous 34 matchups with the Paladins in a series that dates back to the 1979-80 campaign. Furman has won three of the last four matchups with the Bears, including both meetings last season. The Paladins hit a layup with 9.5 seconds left to fuel a 72-70 home win over MU on Feb. 20, 2025 in the last meeting between the two sides.

ON DECK
Mercer will close out its three-game Southern Conference home stand on Saturday when it locks horns with Wofford (9-9, 3-1 SoCon) in a 2 p.m. contest at Hawkins Arena. Tickets are still available and 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 Host Furman In Key SoCon Battle On Thursday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ariana Bennett

Abigail Holtman

Footer

Mercer University Athletics