Pre-Game Notes
MACON, Ga. - Mercer University's women's basketball team is hoping it’s going to be one of those “
deja vu all over again” things beginning with Saturday’s (Jan. 30) game at the University Center against Stetson University. Tipoff is at 1 p.m. for the front end of a women’s-men’s basketball doubleheader (the Bears’ men’s team also hosts Stetson at 3:30 p.m.).
Mercer, which enters the game at 10-9 overall and 7-3 in the Atlantic Sun Conference, just defeated the Hatters last Thursday evening (69-57) in DeLand, Fla.
Head coach
Janell Jones’ team is 5-2 in its last seven games and finds itself in third place in the A-Sun standings. Only Florida Gulf Coast University and East Tennessee State University are ahead of the Bears in the conference race. The Bears’ only loss in their last four games game came at FGCU last weekend. MU will host FGCU on Monday to complete a four-game stretch versus the same pair of teams in a 10-day span.
Stetson is tied for seventh place at 4-7 in league play and an overall mark of 4-16.
After Mercer handed Stetson a third-straight loss on January 21, the Hatters righted the ship with a 62-59 victory at home versus Kennesaw State two days later. SU then dropped a 68-44 decision at FGCU.
No Hatters have a scoring average in double-figures, but Stetson has six players who score at a clip of six points per game or better.
Leading the Hatters is Kerri Simpson at 9.8 points and 4.1 rebounds per game (Simpson did not play in the last meeting versus MU). Jessica Conner checks in at 9.4 points and a team-leading 7.8 rebounds per game, after posting a double-double of 17 points and 13 boards in the first go-round against the Bears.
Tierra Brown is close behind Conner and Simpson with a 9.3 p.p.g. average (Brown also did not play last time out against Mercer). Daphnee Frieson’s numbers are 8.4 p.p.g. and 7.1 r.p.g., complimenting a 55.2% field goal shooting mark.
Natasha Graboski and Ashli Jackson average 6.5 and 6.1 points per outing, respectively. Graboski pulls down 6.5 rebounds per game, as well (with nine caroms against Mercer in the last week’s game).
Stetson is the fourth-best team in the A-Sun in terms of fewest rebounds allowed at an average of 40.5 boards per game for the opposition.
In the earlier meeting between the two teams, Simone Taylor had 15 points off the Stetson bench and Jackson popped for 12 points.
Ford, a senior guard, leads the Bears team in both scoring (17.9 per game) and rebounds (8.5 per game), while also ranking second and fourth in the A-Sun in those same categories. Ford tops the conference in steals at 3.32 thefts per game, and is tied for fourth at 4.26 assists per game, as well.
Ford ranks eighth for all of NCAA Division I in steals. She is also tied for 19th in double-doubles (9) and 2nd in triple-doubles (2).
Fellow senior Jackson is the only other Mercer player averaging in double digits at 13.1 p.p.g. Jackson is eighth in A-Sun scoring, as well as seventh in both free throw percentage (80.2%) and three-point field goals made (1.89 per game).
Ramon, who also tallied 20 points in the loss to FGCU to help cue a furious MU comeback attempt, raised her scoring average to 8.3 p.p.g. and is second on the team in rebounds at 4.9 caroms per contest. Ramon is also averaging 1.0 blocked shots per game.
In terms of taking care of the basketball, the Mercer team ranks 54th in the nation by averaging just 16.1 turnovers per game. The Bears own the third-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the A-Sun (0.82).
Stetson leads the overall series versus the Bears, 29-27. With this being the 57th meeting between the Hatters and Bears, the rivalry is MU’s third-most contested. Mercer has played only Georgia Southern (58) and Georgia State (59) more often than Stetson.