CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga will take on the Mercer Bears Saturday afternoon in the first game of a double-header. The game, set for a 2 p.m. tip-off, will be followed by the Mercer men's team and ETSU.
 
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Saturday, January 7, 2017 | 2:00 p.m.
Macon, Ga. | Hawkins Arena
Live Stats: GoMocs.com
Radio: Real 96.1 FM – streaming live at GoMocs.com
Video: ESPN3
 
CHATTANOOGA vs. MERCER
This will be the 16th meeting between the Mocs and the Bears. UTC leads the series 13-2 overall and 4-1 in SoCon play. Chattanooga won the last two and 11 of the last 12 including the final of the 2016 SoCon Tournament. On the road, UTC is 5-2 against Mercer with the Bears snapping UTC's 52-game SoCon regular season win streak last year.
 
Mercer 13-2
H: 7-0 | A: 5-2 | N: 1-0 | OT: 1-0
SoCon | Season: 3-1 | Tournament: 1-0
11/30/83              A         W        OT        63-59
02/03/84              H         W                      61-50
02/11/85              A         L                        84-113
12/05/85              H         W                      85-65
01/21/86              A         W                      78-76
12/19/86              H         W                      74-60
01/31/87              A         W                      115-96
12/05/87              H         W                      101-51
01/18/89              A         W                      105-104
12/08/90              H         W                      73-61
01/31/15    §       H         W                      71-59
02/23/15    §       A         W                      56-51
01/21/16    §       A         L                        44-67
02/20/16    §       H         W                      67-45
03/06/16    §T     N         W                      65-57
§ - Southern Conference game
§T – Southern Conference Tournament
 
CHATTANOOGA | 7-8, 1-0 SoCon
The Mocs posted a 6-8 non-conference record after taking on five preseason Top 25 teams including three in the Top Four – UConn, Notre Dame and Louisville. Chattanooga hosted the Irish, #19 Florida and #23 Indiana.
 
Jasmine Joyner leads the Mocs with 11.4 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. She is ranked second in the nation for blocked shots per game and has an NCAA-best 59 this year. She is climbing in the NCAA career charts, ranking 18^th with 373 over her career.
 
Queen Alford and Chelsey Shumpert are also averaging double digits for the Mocs, with 10.9 and 10.8 respectively. Alford has 18 3-pointers and 3.8 rebounds per game. Shumpert has 130 career treys, ranking 10^th all-time at UTC and 21 this season. From the free throw line, she lead Chattanooga making 91.2 percent (31-34) of her attempts and has 38 assists.
 
The Mocs are shooting 40.8 percent from the floor and rank third in the SoCon with 6.2 3-pointers per game. At the charity stripe, UTC has a league-high 73.3 percent, making 148-of-202.
 
Chattanooga head coach Jim Foster, inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013, has 872 career wins, ranking eighth all-time in the NCAA.
 
MERCER | 12-3, 1-0 SoCon
While the Bears are second in the league in scoring, they top the SoCon in scoring defense and outscore opponents, by more than 10 points per game. They are first in steals (10.7), turnover margin (9.5) and assist-turnover ratio (1.4) as well as offensive rebounds with 14.4 per game.
 
Kahlia Lawrence leads the Bears in scoring with 17.8 points per game and is one of three in double figures on the year. She averages 5.0 rebounds per game and has 23 steals. KeKe Calloway has started five games for the Bucs and is averaging 14.8 points per game. She has a team-high 36 3-pointers and 4.2 rebounds per game. Also in double figures is Sydni Means with 10 points per game. She leads the SoCon in assist-turnover ratio and has 96 assists on the year.