Morris and Samford host Mercer

Mercer Bears (15-9, 5-4 SoCon) at Samford Bulldogs (10-16, 3-6 SoCon)

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

BOTTOM LINE: Samford faces Mercer after Francie Morris scored 24 points in Samford's 68-64 victory against the UNC Greensboro Spartans.

The Bulldogs are 6-3 in home games. Samford has a 7-10 record in games decided by 10 points or more.

The Bears are 5-4 in conference games. Mercer has a 1-1 record in one-possession games.

Samford is shooting 38.0% from the field this season, 1.0 percentage point lower than the 39.0% Mercer allows to opponents. Mercer averages 5.4 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.1 fewer made shots on average than the 6.5 per game Samford allows.

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

Abby Holtman averages 2.1 made 3-pointers per game for the Bears, scoring 9.9 points while shooting 35.3% from beyond the arc. Ariana Bennett is shooting 48.0% and averaging 10.1 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Bulldogs: 4-6, averaging 61.7 points, 26.6 rebounds, 12.4 assists, 8.0 steals and 4.3 blocks per game while shooting 40.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 64.3 points per game.

Bears: 6-4, averaging 63.5 points, 28.8 rebounds, 10.3 assists, 9.1 steals and 3.7 blocks per game while shooting 39.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 62.6 points.

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