Bears Head To East Tennessee State On Tuesday

Tuesday, February 10

Johnson City, Tenn.

7 p.m.

Mercer University

East Tennessee State

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Bears Head To East Tennessee State On Tuesday

2/9/2026 2:43:00 PM | Women's Basketball

By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

MACON – The Mercer women's basketball team will open up a four-game road trip on Tuesday evening when they pack up their show and head to Johnson City, Tenn., to take on Southern Conference rival East Tennessee State in Brooks Gymnasium. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

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

ABOUT THE GAME
Date: Tuesday, February 9 Time: 7 p.m. ET Location: Johnson City, Tenn. I Brooks Gymnasium TV: ESPN+ Live Statistics: MercerBears.com/Live Twitter Updates: @Mercer_WBB

TICKETS
Tickets are still available and can be purchased by the East Tennessee State athletic ticketing portal.

LAST TIME OUT
Mercer connected on better than 51 percent of its shot attempts over the game's final 30 minutes and took the lead for good on Talia Harris's short-range jumper midway through the third quarter on the way to a 61-51 over visiting Western Carolina on Saturday afternoon in Hawkins Arena. It was the eighth home win of the season for the Bears who forced 20 turnovers in the contest, while also getting the better end of a 32-30 disparity in the rebounding column. Senior Ariana Bennett came in off of the bench to post a team-high 14 points on 4-for-4 field goal shooting, as well as a 6-for-6 clip from the charity stripe.

ABOUT MERCER
The Bears (14-9, 4-4 SoCon) captured a pair of conference games at home last week, posting a 67-58 win over UNC Greensboro on Thursday before finishing off a perfect week with a 61-51 win over Western Carolina on Sunday. The Bears are 6-6 away from Macon this season, and will be looking to put the kibosh on a two-game road skid when they visit ETSU on Tuesday. Senior Nahawa Diarra headlines the scoring column for Mercer with 11.5 points/game and has averaged 12.3 points an outing over her last four starts to go along with 4.5 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.8 assists per game over that same span. Senior Ariana Bennett (10.9 ppg) and junior Abigail Holtman (10.1) boast double-figure scoring averages for MU as well.

SCOUTING EAST TENNESSEE STATE
The Buccaneers (12-11, 5-3 SoCon) used a 3-pointer from Carmen Richardson with five seconds left to register a 58-55 road triumph at Furman on Saturday and extend their win streak out to five games. ETSU has limited its last five opponents to just 34.8 percent field goal shooting and 50.8 points per game. Conversely, the Bucs have put up just 58.4 points per game, but are +6.8 in the rebounding column and have committed just 11 turnovers an outing over their current win skein. Senior Anala Nelson averages a team-best 10.8 points per game and has put up 10 or more points in 11 contests this season, while senior forward Meghan Downing chips in 8.1 points and a team-best 7.9 rebounds per game.

MERCER/EAST TENNESSEE STATE SERIES
Mercer leads the 46-year-old series, 27-24, but East Tennessee has won four of the last six matchups, including both meetings last season. The squads have split 24 previous matchups in Johnson City, Tenn., but the Bucs have won the last two contests in Brooks Gymnasium.

ON DECK
Mercer will continue its four-game road trip on Saturday when it treks to Birmingham, Ala., to battle Samford (10-16, 3-6 SoCon) in the Pete Hanna Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET.

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.