Mercer women’s basketball accepts bid to WBI

MACON, Ga. (MERCER ATHLETICS) – The Mercer women’s basketball team has accepted an invitation to the Women’s Basketball Invitational (WBI) Tournament, announced on Monday evening.

The Bears are slated to host Troy in the first round of the WBI Tournament this Thursday, March 19 at 7 p.m. at Hawkins Arena.

The WBI Tournament is in its sixth year of existence and features 16 teams from across the nation who will play in a single elimination tournament format.

This is the second time in three years that Mercer has earned an invitation to the WBI Tournament and also the second time since the 1984-85 season that the Bears have played in the post-season. Under Head Coach Susie Gardner, Mercer has now had three consecutive winning seasons, which is the first time in program history that the Bears have done so.

Troy notched a 20-10 record for the 2014-15 season and after winning its eight final regular season games, fell to UL Lafayette in the Sun Belt Quarterfinals. The Trojans are led by Ashley Beverly-Kelley, who scored 17.7 points per game, including 19.8 ppg in Sun Belt games. Ronita Garrett averaged a double-double with 15.6 ppg and 11.2 rebounds a game. She also tallied 16.3 ppg and 11.7 rpg in league action.

Ticket information will be released on Tuesday, March 17 on MercerBears.com

For all the latest information on Mercer women’s basketball, please visit MercerBears.com or, for up-to-the-minute updates, follow Mercer basketball on Twitter and Instagram at @MercerWBB or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Mercerwbb.