Mercer Women’s Basketball Welcomes Furman for Homecoming on Sunday

MACON, Georgia (MERCER RELEASE) – The Mercer women’s basketball team looks to continue its dominance at home when it hosts Furman on November 24 at 2 p.m. at Hawkins Arena.

Dating back to last season, Mercer (2-2) is 9-3 in its last 12 home games and is already 2-0 at Hawkins Arena this season with triumphs over Western Carolina and Troy.

Mercer leads the all-time series with Furman 4-3, but the Paladins won the most recent meeting between the two schools, 73-64, in Greenville last season.

Scouting the Opposition

Furman enters Hawkins Arena on Saturday with a 1-3 record after losing to No. 24 Georgia 72-48 last time out. The Paladins were picked to finish sixth in the SoCon Preseason Coaches’ poll after returning four starters back from last year’s squad that went 12-18 overall. Furman has struggled scoring the ball so far this season, averaging only 59.2 points per game thanks in large part to its 57 percent shooting from the free throw line. Reigning SoCon Freshman of the Year Holli Wilkins paces the Paladins offensively with 10.8 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.

Last Time Out

MACON, Ga. – Senior point guard Sharnea Boykin used her first career double-double to lift the Mercer women’s basketball team to a 86-81 win over Troy on Tuesday evening at Hawkins Arena.

In total, a season-high five players scored in double-figures for Mercer (2-2) led by junior Precious Bridges’ game-high 25 points.

Bridges and Boykin were joined in double-figures by junior Alicia Williams (18 points), senior Kendra Grant (14 points) and junior Briana Williams (13 points).

Mercer eventually started to pull away from the Trojans, employing an 8-2 run capped by a double-clutch lay-in by Briana Williams to make the score 61-49 with 12:01 left in the second half.

That cushion proved to be just enough of an edge for Mercer, as the Bears lead never dipped below three points the rest of the way.

Game Notes

– Senior Sharnea Boykin proved she is more than just a distributor when she recorded her first career double-double in a win over Troy on Nov. 19. Boykin tallied a career-high 12 points, on 4-of-5 shooting from the field, to go along with 10 assists to complete her double-double.

– Mercer currently paces the A-Sun Conference averaging 5.8 blocks per game. Junior Teanna Robinson is a big reason why, as she leads the league averaging 4.3 swats per contest.