Mercer visits Samford following Johnson’s 30-point outing

Mercer Bears (7-15, 2-5 SoCon) at Samford Bulldogs (7-16, 2-5 SoCon)

Birmingham, Alabama; Saturday, 3 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Samford hosts Mercer after Claire Johnson scored 30 points in Samford’s 78-66 loss to the UNC Greensboro Spartans.

The Bulldogs have gone 5-4 at home. Samford ranks sixth in the SoCon with 8.9 offensive rebounds per game led by Emily Bowman averaging 3.2.

The Bears are 2-5 in conference matchups. Mercer is 2-14 in games decided by at least 10 points.

Samford averages 7.3 made 3-pointers per game, 1.7 more made shots than the 5.6 per game Mercer gives up. Mercer averages 52.3 points per game, 23.1 fewer points than the 75.4 Samford allows to opponents.

The matchup Saturday is the first meeting of the season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Bowman is scoring 11.2 points per game and averaging 8.7 rebounds for the Bulldogs. Johnson is averaging 2.0 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Ariana Bennett is averaging 11 points for the Bears. Talia Harris is averaging 10.0 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Bulldogs: 3-7, averaging 67.3 points, 26.4 rebounds, 11.0 assists, 7.2 steals and 1.4 blocks per game while shooting 40.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.2 points per game.

Bears: 3-7, averaging 52.2 points, 22.7 rebounds, 9.6 assists, 5.8 steals and 3.1 blocks per game while shooting 37.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 63.6 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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