Mercer ready for another shot at Chattanooga

The Mercer women have waited for this game for some time. Now they get another shot at Chattanooga.

Mercer and Chattanooga finished last season as the co-regular-season champions in the Southern Conference. But the Mocs knocked off the Bears in the conference tournament championship game and earned a berth to the NCAA Tournament, while the Bears headed to the WNIT.

Mercer faces its first game with Chattanooga at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Hawkins Arena.

“I think our mouths are kind of salivating to play them again,” Mercer junior Kahlia Lawrence said. “Last time, it wasn’t the result that we wanted, and I think we’re just excited to have them on our home court after this good win against a great team.”

The win Lawrence is referring to came Thursday night when Mercer (12-3 overall) opened Southern Conference play with a win over East Tennessee State. Chattanooga (7-8) opened conference play with a win Thursday over Samford.

“Obviously, I’ve watched them play a few games,” Mercer head coach Susie Gardner said of Jim Foster’s Chattanooga team. “They’ve played a really, really difficult schedule. Coach Foster has done a really good job of getting them ready. We both have just about the same teams that we had last year so there’s not going to be many secrets about what we can do, about what they can do.

“It’s just going to come down to a battle. A lot of the games we play are battles. They’re very, very good, and we’re excited for the challenge, I’m sure.”

Mercer beat Chattanooga 67-44 last year during the regular season in Macon, ending Chattanooga’s 52-game conference winning streak. Chattanooga won the second meeting 67-45 and held off Mercer 65-57 in the conference tournament title game.

“This is the championship game from March, so we are extremely excited to see them again,” Mercer point guard Sydni Means said. “But I’m going into every game with the same mentality that we need to beat every team in our conference.”

This story was originally published January 6, 2017 at 2:16 PM with the headline "Mercer ready for another shot at Chattanooga."