Mercer Wraps Up Non-Conference Play at Alabama State
MACON, Ga. (MERCER RELEASE) – The Mercer women’s basketball team looks to do something it hasn’t done since the 1995-96 season when it wraps up the non-conference portion of its schedule against Alabama State on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome.
Mercer (6-4) is shooting for its seventh non-conference win this season on Friday night against Alabama State which would be the most in a single-season since the 1995-96 version of the Bears, who were also victorious in seven non-conference tilts.
Mercer leads the all-time series with Alabama State 6-2. The Bears won the most recent meeting between the schools, 65-55, last season thanks to Precious Bridges’ game-high 19 points to go along with four steals.
Scouting the Opposition
Alabama State sports an overall record of 5-2 entering play on Friday after most recently pulling out a 64-63 home win over Florida A&M on Dec. 17. The Hornets are making a living on the defensive end of the floor so far this season, ranking in the top-40 nationally in scoring defense (40th – 59.0), field goal percentage defense (9th – .339) and blocks per game (2nd – 6.7). Alabama State does struggle mightily holding onto the ball, however, as it ranks 339th in the nation averaging 22.1 turnovers per game. The Hornets are paced on offense by senior Quentori Alford who leads the team averaging 10.6 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.
Last Time Out
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – The Mercer women’s basketball team employed a last-minute rally for the second game in a row to pull out a 60-54 road win at Jacksonville State on Tuesday evening at the Pete Mathews Coliseum.
Mercer out-scored Samford 14-3 over the final five-plus minutes of its game against the Bulldogs on Dec. 7 and out-scored Jacksonville State 8-0 over final 2:30 of tonight’s contest to pull out the win.
Senior Kendra Grant led four Bears in double figures with 17 points and two steals.
With Jacksonville State up seven with just over three minutes left in the game, Mercer employed its never say die attitude one more time.
Back-to-back buckets by Grant and six late free throws by junior Alicia Williams spearheaded the Bears late surge to secure their second-straight comeback win.
Game Notes
– Mercer turned up the heat defensively with a season-high nine steals against Jacksonville State on Dec. 17, including a game-high three thefts by senior Sharnea Boykin. The Bears are 6-1 this season when they record five or more steals in a game.
– Junior Precious Bridges currently has 950 points entering Friday night’s game against Alabama State. When Bridges hits the 1,000-point milestone she will become just the sixth active A-Sun Conference player with 1,000 points and the 23rd player in Mercer women’s basketball program history to eclipse the 1,000-point barrier.
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