Mercer women return home for tough tests
The Mercer women's basketball team went on the road to win three games in dramatic fashion to open Southern Conference play.
The reward? The Bears return home for games this week with the conference's top two programs: Chattanooga (Thursday) and East Tennessee State (Saturday).
"Well, we've had some close calls, obviously, with two overtime games and a shot at the buzzer that was well-contested," Mercer head coach Susie Gardner said. "You know, 3-0, three games on the road, we're not talking about it with our team. We're just trying to win the moment and play as hard as we can all the time.
"But these guys are starting to believe in each other and their coaching staff, and good things are happening."
Plenty of good things have happened for Chattanooga in the recent years. The Mocs have won 52 straight regular-season Southern Conference games (the streak is 61 if tournament games are counted), and they have won the conference's regular-season and tournament titles the past three seasons.
Both teams are 13-5 overall, while the Mocs are 4-0 in conference play. Mercer is the only other undefeated team in conference play at 3-0 and has won seven straight games overall.
Jim Foster's Chattanooga team is led by Jasmine Joyner, who is averaging 12.3 points and 9.3 rebounds, while Keiana Gilbert (11.7) and Chelsey Shumpert (10.7) are also averaging in double figures in points. The balanced scoring attack also includes Queen Alford (8.9) and Alicia Payne (7.0).
"We'll worry about Chattanooga first, and obviously they haven't lost a game in who knows how long in conference," Gardner said of this week's stretch. "They're very, very talented. They've got great players. They've got the preseason player of the year in Joyner. They've got the defensive player in Alicia Payne from last year, and of course, they have Coach Foster, who's in the Hall of Fame.
"They've got Queen Alford, who transferred from Jacksonville who we had a hard time stopping when she was at Jacksonville. So they're very, very talented.
"They're also very confident. They're well-coached. And I think it will be interesting just simply because both of us are undefeated at this point."
BACK ON THE ROAD
Mercer's men hit the road Thursday night against East Tennessee State after a successful two-game homestand against Furman and Wofford.
The Bears and Buccaneers are 4-1 in conference play, a half-game behind Chattanooga (5-1) in the Southern Conference race. Mercer is 14-4 overall, while ETSU is 11-7.
The Bears stay on the road Saturday to play Western Carolina.
ALSO THIS WEEK
Fort Valley State's basketball teams play Thursday at Benedict and Saturday at Claflin, while Georgia College's teams play Saturday at Montevallo.
Also Saturday, Middle Georgia State hosts Dalton State, Central Georgia Tech plays at South Georgia and Wesleyan plays at Salem.
This story was originally published January 20, 2016 at 5:40 PM with the headline "Mercer women return home for tough tests ."