Mercer Bears (6-15, 1-5 SoCon) at Western Carolina Catamounts (11-10, 1-5 SoCon)
Cullowhee, North Carolina; Saturday, 1 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Western Carolina plays Mercer after Avyonce Carter scored 26 points in Western Carolina's 90-86 loss to the Samford Bulldogs.
The Catamounts are 6-4 in home games. Western Carolina has a 2-0 record in games decided by 3 points or fewer.
The Bears have gone 1-5 against SoCon opponents. Mercer averages 14.5 turnovers per game and is 4-4 when winning the turnover battle.
Western Carolina's average of 6.3 made 3-pointers per game this season is just 0.7 more made shots on average than the 5.6 per game Mercer allows. Mercer averages 2.0 made 3-pointers per game this season, 3.8 fewer made shots on average than the 5.8 per game Western Carolina allows.
The matchup Saturday is the first meeting of the season between the two teams in conference play.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jada Burton is averaging 9.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.4 assists for the Catamounts. Carter is averaging 15 points and six rebounds over the past 10 games.
Ariana Bennett is averaging 10.8 points for the Bears. Kayla Smith is averaging 0.9 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Catamounts: 4-6, averaging 75.2 points, 32.4 rebounds, 16.2 assists, 6.4 steals and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 46.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.2 points per game.
Bears: 2-8, averaging 49.7 points, 22.4 rebounds, 9.0 assists, 6.0 steals and 2.9 blocks per game while shooting 36.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 64.3 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
