Diarra, Curry Earn Southern Conference Postseason Awards
3/3/2026 3:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – A 17-win regular season on the hardwood continued to bear fruit on Tuesday afternoon for the Mercer women's basketball team as senior Nahawa Diarra was named to the All-Southern Conference and SoCon All-Defensive Team squads, while newcomer Rania Curry snagged a spot on the league's All-Freshman Team.
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Diarra's laurel marked the 11th time in the last 13 seasons that the Bears have had at least one representative on the all-conference teams, while the Barcelona, Spain, product became just the third different MU player (Shannon Titus, Summah Evans) to earn a spot on the all-defensive squad in the eight-year history of the award.
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The Bears have now sent at least one scholar-athlete to the SoCon All-Freshman Team five times over the last dozen campaigns.
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Diarra, an everyday starter at guard for the Orange & Black, has played in 28 games (28 starts) this season and leads the Bears in points (11.0), rebounds (5.2) and steals (1.8) per game, while also chipping in 2.1 assists an outing. She has scored 10 or more points in 17 outings already in 2025-26, including a career-best 21-point performance in Mercer's setback at Wake Forest in mid-November. She notched her second career double-double on December 17 with a 14-point, 11-rebound outing against Erskine.
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Curry, a freshman from Augusta, has tallied 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.3 steals an outing this season, and is one of just three Bears (Talia Kemp, Stephanie Utomi) to log playing time in all 29 contests (eight starts). Curry scored a season-high 15 points, while also adding seven rebounds, in MU's win at Western Carolina in January, and flirted with a double-double in the victory at East Tennessee State with nine points and nine boards.
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The fifth-seeded Bears (17-12) will begin their postseason road on Thursday when it takes on fourth-seeded Furman (17-12) in the quarterfinals round of the 2026 Southern Conference Championship at Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville, N.C. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:45 p.m.
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Diarra's laurel marked the 11th time in the last 13 seasons that the Bears have had at least one representative on the all-conference teams, while the Barcelona, Spain, product became just the third different MU player (Shannon Titus, Summah Evans) to earn a spot on the all-defensive squad in the eight-year history of the award.
Â
The Bears have now sent at least one scholar-athlete to the SoCon All-Freshman Team five times over the last dozen campaigns.
Â
Diarra, an everyday starter at guard for the Orange & Black, has played in 28 games (28 starts) this season and leads the Bears in points (11.0), rebounds (5.2) and steals (1.8) per game, while also chipping in 2.1 assists an outing. She has scored 10 or more points in 17 outings already in 2025-26, including a career-best 21-point performance in Mercer's setback at Wake Forest in mid-November. She notched her second career double-double on December 17 with a 14-point, 11-rebound outing against Erskine.
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Curry, a freshman from Augusta, has tallied 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.3 steals an outing this season, and is one of just three Bears (Talia Kemp, Stephanie Utomi) to log playing time in all 29 contests (eight starts). Curry scored a season-high 15 points, while also adding seven rebounds, in MU's win at Western Carolina in January, and flirted with a double-double in the victory at East Tennessee State with nine points and nine boards.
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The fifth-seeded Bears (17-12) will begin their postseason road on Thursday when it takes on fourth-seeded Furman (17-12) in the quarterfinals round of the 2026 Southern Conference Championship at Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville, N.C. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:45 p.m.
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