Bears Clash With East Tennessee State Thursday In Hawkins Arena

Thursday, February 26

Macon, Ga.

7 p.m.

Mercer University

East Tennessee State

Bears Clash With East Tennessee State Thursday In Hawkins Arena

2/25/2026 1:12:00 PM | Women's Basketball

By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

MACON – The Mercer women's basketball team will play the first leg of a regular season-ending two-game home stand on Thursday evening when the Bears bunker down to take on Southern Conference rival East Tennessee State at Hawkins Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Fans unable to make the trip to Middle Georgia 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 handling the call. Rick Cameron and the rest of the Mercer Sports Network will call all of the action as well, and fans can listen to that broadcast on The Creek 100.9 FM, or by visiting Sportsmic.

ABOUT THE GAME
Date: Thursday, February 26 Time: 7 p.m. ET Location: Macon, Ga. I Hawkins Arena TV: ESPN+ Listen Live: 100.9 The Creek I Sportsmic Network 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
Visiting Mercer shot better than 48 percent from the field and scored 20 points off of 22 Furman turnovers as the Bears closed out the road portion of their regular season schedule on a high note with a 80-63 win over the Paladins on Saturday afternoon in Timmons Arena. The decision snapped a three-game losing streak for the Bears who posted their best offensive day in more than a month, while also recording their most lopsided with over a Southern Conference opponent since Jan. 20, 2024.

ABOUT THE BEARS
Mercer (16-11, 6-6 SoCon) has already doubled its wins from a season ago, and have the opportunity this week to tally double digits in the home win column for just the third time since the 2018-19 campaign. Hawkins Arena has been especially friendly this season to the Orange & Black who has limited visiting teams to just 37.2 percent shooting and 56.8 points, while also forcing 19.6 turnovers per game in the process as well. Seven visiting teams have been held to 38.2 percent field goal shooting or worse, while six have exited Hawkins Arena with 20 or more turnovers. Senior Nahawa Diarra still carries the torch for the Bears with a team-best 11.4 points per game, while also adding 5.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.8 steals an outing as well.

SCOUTING EAST TENNESSEE STATE
The Buccaneers (15-12, 8-4 SoCon) have captured eight of their last nine games, but that lone loss was a 50-45 setback to Mercer on February 10 in which the Bucs were held to just 27.6 percent field goal shooting. Defense has been the calling card over the last nine games for ETSU who has held opponents to just 36.3 percent shooting and 53.8 points per game, but the Buccaneers have mustered just 60.1 points per game themselves over that stretch and have shot just 62.6 percent from the free throw line. Anala Nelson paces the Bucs with 11.0 points per game (13^th SoCon), while Meghan Downing ranks second among league leaders with 8.4 rebounds per game. Daniela Lopez has averaged 16.0 points and 5.3 rebounds over her last five starts, including a 28-point performance in the win over Chattanooga.

MERCER/ETSU SERIES
Mercer leads the 45-year-old series, 28-24, including a 15-10 advantage against ETSU since joining the Southern Conference in time for the 2014-15 campaign. The Bears are 11-10 all-time against the Buccaneers in Hawkins Arena, but fell on the wrong end of a 70-67 decision last season in Macon.

UP NEXT
Mercer will close out the regular season portion of its 2025-26 schedule on Saturday when it battles Southern Conference-leading Chattanooga in the front end of a 2 p.m. Senior Day doubleheader in 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.