2018–19 Mercer Bears women's basketball team

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.

2018–19 Mercer Bears women's basketball
SoCon Regular Season and Tournament Champions
NCAA tournament, first round
Conference	Southern Conference
Record	25–8 (14–0 SoCon)
Head coach	Susie Gardner (9th season)
Assistant coaches	Ben Wierzba Kaitlyn Cresencia Sydni Means
Home arena	Hawkins Arena

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 November 16, 2024

Roster

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 Susie Gardner (Georgia) Assistant coach(es) Ben Wierzba (SIU Edwardsville) Kaitlyn Cresencia (Connecticut College) Sydni Means (Mercer) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule

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

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