Mature Mercer ready to bounce back
The Mercer women’s basketball team suffered its first Southern Conference loss of the season to Chattanooga on Saturday, but the Bears don’t sound concerned.
After all, Mercer head coach Susie Gardner has a much more experienced and mature team this season, and she has said one loss won’t “devastate” this year’s team.
Mercer will see how it can respond from the loss as it hits the road this week. Mercer travels to UNC Greensboro at 7 p.m. on Thursday and Western Carolina at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
“Since the loss, we’ve gotten in the gym by ourselves and with our coaches,” junior point guard Sydni Means said. “We’re doing whatever it takes to get back and right to the team that we know and the team that we are because we know how good we are, and we know we had a bad game. But it’s time to move forward and focus on our next opponent.”
Mercer is 12-4 overall and 1-1 in conference play, while UNC Greensboro and Western Carolina are both 0-2 in the conference. UNC Greensboro is 9-8 overall, while Western Carolina is 5-12.
“It wasn’t the outcome that we wanted or expected, but we’re going to learn from it and grow from it and hopefully use it to help us with the rest of our games,” sophomore Amanda Thompson said of the loss.
On the road
The Mercer men’s basketball team plays three of its next four games on the road. That starts at 8 p.m. on Wednesday against Samford.
Mercer is 7-10 overall and 1-3 in the conference, while Samford is 12-5 and 3-1. The Bulldogs are tied with Chattanooga, UNC Greensboro and Furman for second place in the conference, a half-game behind 3-0 East Tennessee State.
After hosting Chattanooga on Saturday, Mercer returns to the road next week to face UNC Greensboro and Western Carolina.
All-America honor
Mercer baseball player Trey Truitt received Preseason All-America honors Monday as Perfect Game announced its preseason teams.
A third-team selection, Truitt is the only baseball player from Georgia or from the Southern Conference to be named to the teams.
Last season as a sophomore, Truitt hit .335 with 17 home runs and 54 RBI. He finished the season ranked 15th in the nation in runs scored (64) and 18th in the in home runs.
The Bears finished 38-23 last year and won the Southern Conference regular-season championship. They open the 2017 season Feb. 17 against Maryland-Eastern Shore.
No go for Wednesday
Because of water issues at the Centennial Center caused by cold weather, Georgia College’s basketball doubleheader Wednesday against North Georgia has been postponed.
The teams will now play Feb. 13. Georgia College returns to action Saturday at Augusta.