Career-high stats from Shannon Titus powers Mercer to fourth straight SoCon final

If the first round game was the “KeKe Calloway Show” then the semifinal game was the “Shannon Titus Takeover.”

The sophomore guard stuffed the stat sheet and carried Mercer to a 69-51 win over Wofford College to put the Bears back in the Southern Conference title game for the fourth straight season.

“We were having a little bit of trouble finding the basket in terms of scoring,” Mercer head coach Susie Gardner said. “The shot clock would go down and Shannon was just hitting key shots at important times.”

Mercer once again struggled to put the ball in the basket in the first half but Titus refused to let that trend continue. In the second half, she put up 19 of her career-high 29 points. She shot 8 of 11 in the second half and 13-23 for the game.

“In the first half I wasn’t really knocking down shots,” Titus said. “When my team needed me to step and hit shots I did. And I mean, it’s just great how they found me and told me to just keep shooting and keep being aggressive.”

Mercer brought a lot of fans to Asheville to support the Bears, and Titus said she really started to feed off of their energy in the second half.

“It was great just hearing all those fans and all of them screaming. It was just very motivating,” she said. “Once I see and hear my shot go in, it is nice to have the support of the fans behind me.”

Titus didn’t just lead the way in scoring. She also contributed 6 rebounds and another career-high in blocks with 5.

Wofford head coach Jimmy Garrity said Titus created a tough match-up for Chloe Wanink who shot 4-19 for the field for just nine points. Wanink came into the game tied for the conference lead in points per game with 19.1.

“Titus’ length is challenging for Chloe,” Garrity said. “It gets to you a little bit, ‘Am I open, am I not open?’ So her length bothered her.”

Gardner said coming into the game they wanted to give Titus a chance to guard the other team’s most dynamic scorer to see if they could create a mismatch. It was a strategy that paid off for the Bears.

“Shannon’s got a lot of gifts in terms of being an athlete. She’s long, she’s got intelligence — you’ve got to be smart to be a good defender,” Gardner said. “Just an all-around stat game for Shannon.”

While Titus struggled in the first half to score, she was able to make an impact on defense by shutting down Wanink.

“My goal was just to keep Chloe in front,” she said.”I focused a little bit more on defensive in the first half.”

Titus has come on strong this season. A year ago in the same tournament, Titus logged a total of seven minutes and scored just two points in a pair of blowout wins.

Titus’ emergence has been a big part of the team’s success, forward Amanda Thompson said.

“For her to be able to come out here and do this today is just amazing,” Thompson said.

For months, the Bears have said that any player in the starting five could step up and score on any given night. It forces the opposition to guard all five positions with the same intensity, forward Amanda Thompson said.

“If they take away me and they take away KeKe (Calloway), Shannon steps up,” she said. “What more could you want?”

Despite four straight appearance, navigating the tournament to reach the final still provides some stress for Gardner despite winning in dominating fashion.

“I get really nervous all weekend for this, but if I have any peace at all it’s knowing that I have Amanda (Thompson) and crew that have been there with us this whole time,” she said. “I’m just so happy for this crew to get back to the championship game.”