Mercer women set to take on a historic program in the first round of NCAA tournament
The Mercer women’s basketball team is going dancing for the fourth time in five years and will take on the University of Connecticut in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
The No. 2 seeded Huskies (25-5) will host the No. 15 Bears (23-6) Saturday at Gampel Pavilion, their home arena, on Saturday.
The Bears punched their ticket by winning the Southern Conference title in dominating fashion. Mercer outscored its opponents in the conference tournament by a combined 88 points including a 73-54 win over Furman in the title game.
Mercer presents an interesting challenge for any team despite being a No. 15 seed as they have three players averaging double figures and another scoring nearly 10 per game.
Amoria Neal-Tysor comes into the tournament averaging 17 points per game and is coming off three straight 20-point games in the SoCon tournament including a career-high 34 against Samford.
The Bears also boast the SoCon Defensive Player of the Year in senior Shannon Titus as well as the SoCon Freshman of the Year, Erin Houpt.
Head coach Susie Gardner, the reigning SoCon Coach of the Year, also brings a ton of experience to the tournament not only as a coach but as a player.
She appeared in a pair of Final Fours as a player for the University of Georgia. As a head coach, she has gone to seven NCAA tournaments, including three with the Austin Peay Governors and is making her fourth appearance with Mercer.
The Bears will have a tall task in the form of UConn. The Huskies have a scoring punch as well with four players scoring in double figures including a returning Paige Bueckers who missed most of the season with a leg injury.
The 15 seed is no stranger to Mercer who was recently a 15 seed in the 2019 tournament against Iowa. The Bears nearly became the first team in NCAA history to win as a No. 15 seed taking the Hawkeyes down to the wire in a 66-61 loss in 2019.
The Bears will look to once again have success against one of the top players and top teams in the country when they take on UConn, arguably the greatest women’s basketball program in the country over the last 30 years, having won a record 11 national titles.
UConn will host the first two rounds in Storrs, Connecticut. If the Bears advance, they would take on the winner of the 7-10 matchup which includes Florida and UCF.
This story was originally published March 13, 2022 at 8:31 PM.