Mercer Women Continue Homestand against Northern Kentucky on Thursday

MACON, Ga. (MERCER RELEASE) – The Mercer women’s basketball team looks to keep up its winning ways in Hawkins Arena when it continues a season-long three-game homestand against Northern Kentucky on Thursday evening.

Gameday Lineup

Date: Thurs. Feb. 6 | 7 p.m. EST

Teams: Mercer (11-9, 4-5 A-Sun) vs. Northern Kentucky (11-9, 7-2 A-Sun)

Location: Macon, Ga. | Hawkins Arena (3,200)

Talent: Chandler Lee (play-by-play), Todd Wilson (Analyst)

Live Stats: MercerBears.com

Twitter: @MercerWBB

Last Time Out

MACON, Ga. – The Bears rekindled their home court advantage by snapping a three-game losing streak at Hawkins Arena following a 64-59 win over in-state rival Kennesaw State on February 1.

Scouting the Opposition

Northern Kentucky comes into Thursday night’s contest riding high after downing first-place Florida Gulf Coast 63-43 last time out on Feb. 1. The Norse currently sit alone in third-place in the A-Sun Conference standings with a 7-2 league record after their most recent triumph over FGCU.

NKU has relied on a stingy and long range shooting to achieve success so far this season. The Norse rank third in the A-Sun allowing 63.5 points per game and tied for third in the league averaging 6.3 three-point field goals made per game. Junior Melody Doss paces the Norse by leading the team in points per game (16.2), field goal percentage (.498), rebounds per game (7.7) and blocks per game (1.4).

Story Lines

– Northern Kentucky leads the all-time series between the two teams, 2-1. After splitting the season series a year ago, the Norse used a strong second half to come away with a 72-61 win over the Bears in the first meeting between the two teams this season on Jan. 9.

– Mercer’s 1.1 assist/turnover ratio is the best in the conference and 33rd-best in the nation with 273 total assists compared to just 243 turnovers.

– Sharnea Boykin has dished out 10+ assists in a game 11 times in her career to lead all active A-Sun players. Boykin is currently No. 6 in the A-Sun record books and No. 3 in the Mercer record books with 577 career helpers. As a senior, Boykin is averaging 6.7 assists per game which paces the A-Sun and is 10th-best in the nation.

– Junior Briana Williams has started to get her scoring touch back as of late that made her the two-time A-Sun Conference scoring champion as a freshman and sophomore. Williams set new season-highs with 24 points, 10 field goals made, 20 field goals attempted and five rebounds in the Bears most recent win over Kennesaw State. Williams performance against the Owls was the 22nd game of her career scoring 20 or more points and her second 20+ scoring outing in the last four games.