Coach Susie Gardner, Mercer Lady Bears prepare for SoCon tournament

Mercer's women will face ETSU in the quarterfinal round of the SoCon Tournament

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The women of Mercer are heading to Asheville, North Carolina this week to face East Tennessee State in the quarterfinal round of the SoCon Tournament.

The Lady Bears (14-16, 8-6 SoCon) earned a 4-seed and will meet the 5-seed Bucs for the third time this season. The teams split their first two meetings.

With a record of 18-5 in Asheville, and four conference championships in nine years, Coach Susie Gardner is trying to prove last season’s first round loss wasn’t who they are. She has this group of five new Lady Bears starting their own legacy and playing their best basketball of the season going into the tournament. The Bears won four of their last five regular season games.

“Today, as we sit here today waiting for Thursday, I think these guys feel like they know each other, they’re confident,” she said. “They’ve been prepared. We also know that it’s a challenge on our hands. The only thing you can ask for as a coach this time of year with the pressure of being a mid-major and having to win the tournament to get to the NCAA is, ‘Have you prepared your players to the best of your ability all year for the moment?’ And I think that we can say that.”

Mercer and ETSU meet in the quarterfinal round of the SoCon Tournament on Thursday at 5:45 p.m. You can catch the game on ESPN+.

Mercer men facing The Citadel on Friday

The Mercer men’s basketball team (15-6, 8-10 SoCon) earned an 8-seed in the SoCon Tournament in Asheville and will face 9-seed The Citadel in an opening round game on Friday. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. That game can also be seen on ESPN+.