Mercer women’s basketball team goes back to work

The Mercer women’s basketball team won a championship last year, but it’s not the championship the Bears want.

Mercer finished as the co-regular season champion in the Southern Conference last season but came up just short against Chattanooga in the conference tournament championship game. The Mocs, who split the regular-season title with the Bears, pulled out the tournament title game in a thriller in Asheville, North Carolina, and earned the NCAA Tournament berth that goes along with it.

That is driving the Bears, but they are ready to move on to this season, which begins with practice Thursday.

“They’re smart enough to know that we were that close,” head coach Susie Gardner said. “I don’t need to keep bringing it up. It’s time to move forward to this year.”

Gardner’s team is led by a strong junior class made up of Kahlia Lawrence, Sydni Means, Alex Williams, Kayla Potts and Shon Kitchens. This year’s sophomore class had three starters last year in Amanda Thompson, Linnea Rosendal and Rachel Selph, while former Mary Persons standout Keke Calloway was named to the Southern Conference’s all-freshman team.

This year’s roster includes three freshmen: India Blakely, Germani Abram and Aaliyah Milord.

“It’s got a totally different feel, obviously, from last year when we were freshmen and sophomores only and had no idea if we were going to be any good at all,” Gardner said. “So it’s got a totally different feel to it from my perspective, as well as the players, but I know without a doubt they cannot wait to get on the court.”

This story was originally published October 5, 2016 at 6:25 PM with the headline "Mercer women’s basketball team goes back to work."