January 28, 2011

Bears Begin Second Half of A-Sun Slate in South Carolina

SPARTANBURG, S.C.  – The Mercer women’s basketball team begins its second round of A-Sun competition this weekend, starting with a road test at USC Upstate on Saturday afternoon.  Game time at the G.B. Hodge Center is slated for 4:30 p.m.

Mercer started its conference schedule strong with a 69-56 win at Belmont on December 2.  Since then, the Bears have dropped nine-straight league games, five of which settled by margins less than 10 points.

Saturday’s meeting with USC Upstate marks the beginning of 10-straight games where the Bears will face an A-Sun opponent for the second time this season. 

SCOUTING THE SPARTANS

USC Upstate returns three starters and seven letterwinners from last year’s squad that finished 20-9 (14-6 A-Sun).  The Spartans are currently 10-9 (6-4 A-Sun) after falling at ETSU 64-42 on Wednesday night.

The Spartans were picked to finish third among A-Sun competition in a preseason poll of the league’s coaches.  Senior center Chelsea McMillan was selected to the Preseason All-Atlantic Sun Team after earning first team All-Atlantic Sun honors in 2009-10.

Sophomore guard Tee’Ara Copney is the reigning A-Sun Player of the Week after averaging 18.7 points in three wins last week.  Copney was named the league’s Freshman of the Year in 2009-10 and has nixed the notion of a sophomore slump.  Copney enters the matchup with Mercer averaging 14.2 points per game and 5.5 assists per contest.

 

Mercer leads the all-time series with USC Upstate, 5-3.  Saturday’s matchup marks the second go-around between the teams this season.  On January 5, USC Upstate edged Mercer 70-64 in the University Center.

Last year, the teams split two regular season meetings.  Each team claimed its victory on the road in 2009-10.

GAME NOTES

In Mercer’s last outing at Kennesaw State, three players reached double figures in the scoring column (Williams, Hazel, Phillips).  The game marked only the fourth time this season the Bears have put more than 2 players in double figures.  Mercer has yet to see more than three players score 10 or more.

Alex Phillips had a breakout performance with 16 points and 11 rebounds at FGCU on Jan. 17.  Phillips has now scored in double figures in three of Mercer’s last four games.  Before the recent stretch, Phillips had only scored 10 or more twice in her career.

Phillips has also had at least one block in 15 of Mercer’s 18 games.  On four occasions, Phillips has had three or more blocks in a game.  The sophomore now ranks fifth among A-Sun leaders in blocks per game (1.56).

Freshmen Brittnee Hazel and Sharnea Boykin are both averaging an impressive 1.8 steals per game.  That number ranks the tandem tied for 10th more steals per game amongst A-Sun players.  As a team, the Bears average the fourth-most takeaways in the conference.