Mercer Women’s Basketball Set for Thursday Showdown with Stetson

MACON, Ga. (MERCER RELEASE) – The Mercer women’s basketball team returns home Thursday evening to host Stetson in the first of two-straight Atlantic Sun Conference home games inside Hawkins Arena.

Gameday Lineup

Date: Thu. Jan. 16 | 7 p.m. EST
Teams: Mercer (9-6, 2-2 A-Sun) vs. Stetson (10-5, 2-1 A-Sun)
Location: Macon, Ga. | Hawkins Arena (3,200)
Video: A-Sun.TV
Talent: Chandler Lee (play-by-play), Todd Wilson (Analyst)
Live Stats: MercerBears.com
Twitter: @MercerWBB

Story Lines

Stetson has won seven straight games against Mercer in the all-time series, including sweeping the season series a year ago and eliminating the Bears in the semifinals of the A-Sun Tournament. Mercer last defeated the Hatters in January of 2010, ending a run of five consecutive wins against Stetson.

Mercer’s 30-for-55 (54-percent) shooting performance from the field last Saturday against Lipscomb marked a season-high for the Bears in the team’s first conference road victory of the year. It was the first time Mercer shot over 50-percent from the field in a game all year, topping a 47-percent outing in a victory over North Florida to open league play.

While Sharnea Boykin leads the league in assists per game at 6.5, she had a breakout performance of a different kind at NKU, scoring a career-high 14 points, and setting career marks for field goals made with six and three-pointers made with two. “Sharnea has really taken pride in working on her shot and that is starting to pay dividends,” said head coach Susie Gardner following the game. “Hopefully this will take some pressure off some of our other offensive players.”

Mercer’s 1.1 assist/turnover ratio is the best in the conference with 202 total assists to just 186 turnovers.

Mercer has won 15 of its last 20 conference games dating back to last year, including a 12-game A-Sun winning streak during this span.

Last Time Out

The Mercer women’s basketball team exchanged leads with Lipscomb 12 times Saturday evening, but a late 7-1 run sent the Bears to a 79-71 victory in Allen Arena in Atlantic Sun Conference action. (Complete Story)

Scouting Stetson

Stetson (10-5, 2-1 A-Sun) enters Thursday’s contest on a two-game winning streak after sweeping USC Upstate and ETSU at home last week. The Hatters are coming off a 24-win campaign in 2012-13, including the program’s third NCAA Tournament appearance in the last eight years.

Sasha Sims leads Stetson and ranks No. 2 in the A-Sun in points per game at 18.5, one of five Hatters averaging double-digits on the year. The Hatters lead the league in scoring offense, scoring margin, field goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage and assists per game.

The Hatters boast the highest RPI of any team in the conference according to WarrenNolen.com, sitting at 85 and six spots ahead of FGCU as the only A-Sun team in the top 100.