2018–19 Mercer Bears women's basketball team

2018–19 Mercer Bears women's basketball
SoCon Regular Season and Tournament Champions
NCAA tournament, first round
ConferenceSouthern Conference
Record25–8 (14–0 SoCon)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Ben Wierzba
  • Kaitlyn Cresencia
  • Sydni Means
Home arenaHawkins Arena
Seasons
2018–19 Southern Conference women's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Mercer 14 0   1.000 25 8   .758
Furman 9 5   .643 19 14   .576
Chattanooga 8 6   .571 14 17   .452
East Tennessee State 8 6   .571 10 21   .323
Wofford 7 7   .500 16 15   .516
UNC Greensboro 5 9   .357 11 19   .367
Samford 5 9   .357 10 20   .333
Western Carolina 0 14   .000 4 26   .133
2019 SoCon Tournament winner
As of December 19, 2024

The 2018–19 Mercer Bears women's basketball team represented Mercer University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Bears, led by ninth-year head coach Susie Gardner, played their home games at the Hawkins Arena as members of the Southern Conference (SoCon). They finished the season 25–3, 16–0 in Southern Conference play win the Southern Conference regular season. They won the SoCon women's tournament to earn an automatic trip to the NCAA women's tournament, where they lost to Iowa in the first round.

Roster

[edit]
2018–19 Mercer Bears women's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 Keke Calloway 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Sr Mary Persons Forsyth, GA
G 1 Amoria Neal-Tysor 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Fr Lee County Sanford, NC
G/F 2 Amanda Thompson 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Sr Hayesville Nayesville, NC
G/F 4 Cierra Scott 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Fr Sacred Heart Academy Louisville, KY
G 5 Emily Stradling 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Fr St David's Catholic College Wales, England
G 11 Linnea Rosendal 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Sr   Stockholm, Sweden
G 12 Tia Benvenuti 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Fr South Lakes Reston, VA
F 15 Ally Welch 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) So South Forsyth Cumming, GA
G/F 21 Shannon Titus 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) So Northview Johns Creek, GA
C 22 Lakaitlin Wright 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) So Wheeler County Alamo, GA
G 23 Summer Pahl 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Fr St. Mary's Kitchener, ON
F 32 Jaron Dougherty 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Fr Collins Hill Buford, GA
C 34 Rachel Selph 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Sr Dodge County Eastman, GA
G Kiana Barkhoff 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) So Palm Harbor University
Arizona
Kitzingen, Germany
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule

[edit]

[1]

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 9, 2018*
7:00 pm
at Wake Forest L 54–69  0–1
LJVM Coliseum (312)
Winston–Salem, NC
Nov 12, 2018*
6:30 pm
at Georgia Southern W 79–72  1–1
Hanner Fieldhouse (252)
Statesboro, GA
Nov 15, 2018*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Florida W 92–82  2–1
Hawkins Arena (2,038)
Macon, GA
Nov 18, 2018*
2:00 pm, ESPN+
UCF L 42–76  2–2
Hawkins Arena (446)
Macon, GA
Nov 23, 2018*
4:00 pm
vs. Memphis
Coastal Carolina Thanksgiving Classic
L 53–59  2–3
HTC Center (247)
Conway, SC
Nov 25, 2018*
11:30 am
vs. Bowling Green
Coastal Carolina Thanksgiving Classic
W 76–63  3–3
HTC Center (106)
Conway, SC
Nov 28, 2018*
7:00 pm, SECN+
at Georgia L 60–67  3–4
Stegeman Coliseum (2,117)
Athens, GA
Dec 1, 2018*
2:00 pm, ESPN+
Kennesaw State W 64–48  4–4
Hawkins Arena (565)
Macon, GA
Dec 5, 2018*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Florida State L 56–57  4–5
Hawkins Arena (1,072)
Macon, GA
Dec 8, 2018*
1:00 pm, ESPN3
Charlotte W 57–40  5–5
Hawkins Arena (827)
Macon, GA
Dec 18, 2018*
7:00 pm, YouTube
at Howard W 85–70  6–5
Burr Gymnasium (576)
Washington, D.C.
Dec 21, 2018*
12:00 pm, ESPN+
at George Washington W 61–53  7–5
Charles E. Smith Center (714)
Washington, D.C.
Dec 30, 2018*
2:00 pm, ESPN+
UNC Asheville W 61–47  8–5
Hawkins Arena (478)
Macon, GA
Jan 2, 2019*
2:00 pm, ESPN+
at Jacksonville L 66–71  8–6
Swisher Gymnasium (445)
Jacksonville, FL
Jan 6, 2019*
2:00 pm, ESPN+
Columbia L 68–72  8–7
Hawkins Arena (565)
Macon, GA
SoCon Regular Season
Jan 12, 2019
2:00 pm, ESPN+
Samford W 76–68 OT 9–7
(1–0)
Hawkins Arena (2,277)
Macon, GA
Jan 17, 2019
5:00 pm, ESPN3
at Western Carolina W 69–67  10–7
(2–0)
Ramsey Center (741)
Cullowhee, NC
Jan 19, 2019
4:00 pm, ESPN+
at UNC Greensboro W 71–58  11–7
(3–0)
Fleming Gymnasium (529)
Greensboro, NC
Jan 24, 2019
5:00 pm, ESPN+
Chattanooga W 65–58  12–7
(4–0)
Hawkins Arena (1,891)
Mercer, GA
Jan 26, 2019
2:00 pm, ESPN+
East Tennessee State W 64–41  13–7
(5–0)
Hawkins Arena (2,027)
Mercer, GA
Jan 31, 2019
6:00 pm, ESPN3
at Wofford W 87–79  14–7
(6–0)
Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium (412)
Spartanburg, SC
Feb 2, 2019
2:00 pm, ESPN3
at Furman W 75–60  15–7
(7–0)
Timmons Arena (407)
Greenville, SC
Feb 9, 2019
3:00 pm, ESPN3
at Samford W 68–52  16–7
(8–0)
Pete Hanna Center (278)
Birmingham, AL
Feb 14, 2019
7:00 pm, ESPN+
UNC Greensboro W 85–73  17–7
(9–0)
Hawkins Arena (1,073)
Macon, GA
Feb 16, 2019
2:00 pm, ESPN+
Western Carolina W 71–55  18–7
(10–0)
Hawkins Arena (876)
Macon, GA
Feb 21, 2019
7:00 pm, ESPN3
at East Tennessee State W 83–77 OT 19–7
(11–0)
J. Madison Brooks Gymnasium (703)
Johnson City, TN
Feb 23, 2019
2:00 pm, ESPN3
at Chattanooga W 62–58  20–7
(12–0)
McKenzie Arena (1,528)
Chattanooga, TN
Feb 28, 2019
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Furman W 66–62  21–7
(13–0)
Hawkins Arena (1,234)
Mercer, GA
Mar 2, 2019
2:00 pm, ESPN+
Wofford W 65–59  22–7
(14–0)
Hawkins Arena (1,347)
Mercer, GA
SoCon Tournament
Mar 7, 2019
11:00 am, ESPN+
(1) vs. (8) Western Carolina
Quarterfinals
W 55–32  23–7
U.S. Cellular Center 
Asheville, NC
Mar 8, 2019
11:00 am, ESPN+
(1) vs. (5) Wofford
Semifinals
W 69–51  24–7
U.S. Cellular Center 
Asheville, NC
Mar 10, 2019
12:00 pm, Nexstar/ESPN+
(1) vs. (2) Furman
Championship Game
W 66–63  25–7
U.S. Cellular Center (1,280)
Asheville, NC
NCAA Women's Tournament
Mar 22, 2019*
2:00 pm, ESPN2
(15 G) at (2 G) No. 8 Iowa
First Round
L 61–66  25–8
Carver–Hawkeye Arena (10,720)
Iowa City, IA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
G=Greensboro Region.
All times are in Eastern Time.

Rankings

[edit]

2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings

Regular Season Polls
Poll Pre-
Season
Week
2
Week
3
Week
4
Week
5
Week
6
Week
7
Week
8
Week
9
Week
10
Week
11
Week
12
Week
13
Week
14
Week
15
Week
16
Week
17
Week
18
Week
19
Final
AP N/A
Coaches N/A
Legend
  Increase in ranking
  Decrease in ranking
  Not ranked previous week
(RV)   Received Votes
(NR)   Not Ranked

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "2018-19 Women's Basketball Schedule". MercerBears.com.