GREENSBORO, N.C. – UNCG women's basketball hits the road for its second Southern Conference road trip of the season Thursday night. The Spartans will face off with the league's preseason favorite Mercer at 7 p.m. inside Hawkins Arena in Macon, Georgia. The Spartans have won back-to-back games to go 8-11 and 2-2 in Southern Conference play. Mercer enters at 16-2, 3-0 in the SoCon and have won 13-straight games.
Mercer owns an 8-0 record all-time against UNCG. The Spartans are 0-3 against the Bears in Macon. Last season saw Mercer earn a 58-47 victory inside Hawkins Arena.
There will be live stats and a video stream available for Thursday's contest. Links for both of these services will be on the UNCG women's basketball schedule page. The video stream will be live on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app.
The Spartans have won back-to-back games for the second time this season after defeating Furman in double overtime on Saturday. Ije Ajemba (Lanham, Md./Old Dominion) led the Spartans in scoring in three of the last four games and led the team with double-digit rebounds in the last four games. For her efforts last week, she was named the SoCon Player of the Week award, her second of the season.
UNCG leads the league with a +5.4 rebounding margin this season, and lead the league with 33.1 defensive rebounds per game. The Spartans average of 13.2 offensive rebounds per game is third-best in the league and they outscore opponents 244-146 on second chance opportunities this season.
Individually, Ajemba leads the SoCon in all individual rebounding categories and ranks ninth nationally in both double-doubles and defensive rebounds per game. Her 10 double-doubles set a new school record for double-doubles in a season. She's 18th in the country in offensive rebounds per game and her 234 total rebounds ranks fourth best in the country. She has turned that rebounding performance into offense, scoring in double figures in six of the last seven games, including leading UNCG in scoring the last two games.
Nadine Soliman (Cairo, Egypt/Mokattam Language School) leads the team with 13.3 points per game and has led the Spartans in scoring in 10 games this season. Soliman dished out a career-best six assists in the win over Wofford and combined for eight assists on the weekend. Alexus Willey (Waldorf, Md./Riverdale Baptist) adds 10.4 points per game and leads the Spartans with 28 made 3-pointers this season. She grabs 4.2 rebounds per game and earlier this season earned her first career double-double.
Aneka Yelverton (Suffolk, Va./Naval Preparatory Academy) had a big game off the bench, scoring a career-best 13 points in the win over Wofford. Brandi Fier (South Beloit, Ill./Illinois Central CC) adds 6.8 points per game and has dished out a season-high 69 assists on the year, including six in the game with Furman.
Mercer enters Thursday's game as the top team in the Southern Conference and was the preseason favorite. The Bears are 6-1 inside Hawkins Arena and Thursday's game will be the first SoCon game in Macon. Mercer lost back-to-back games early in the season, and haven't lost since Nov. 24th to Eastern Kentucky.
Mercer is the top offensive team in the league, scoring an average of 72.6 points per game. The Bears rank in the top two of eight of nine offensive categories and are ranked first in turnover margin and assist/turnover ratio. Mercer trails just Villanova for the national lead in fewest turnovers per game. The Bears turn the ball over just 9.9 times and lead the nation with a 1.78 assist/turnover ratio.
Defensively, Mercer allows opponents to score just 57.7 points per game and lead the league with a +14.8 scoring margin. The Bears limit opponents to just 39-percent shooting from the field and rank second with 10.3 steals per game. Mercer leads the SoCon and ranks fourth in the nation with a +9.06 turnover ratio.
In nine weeks, three different Mercer players have earned the SoCon's player of the week award and Kahlia Lawrence has taken home both Player of the Month awards this season. Lawrence and teammate KeKe Calloway are the top two scorers in the SoCon averaging 19.9 and 18.4 points per game, respectively. Lawrence shoots 44-percent from the field and was the Preseason SoCon Player of the Year. Lawrence hits 34-percent from 3-point range and hauls down 5.2 rebounds per game. Calloway leads the SoCon by shooting 41-percent from 3-point range. Earlier this season, Calloway tied the NCAA record, hitting 12 3-pointers in a 40-point effort in the win over Furman.
Sydni Means facilitates the offense, ranking third in the country with 8.3 assists per game and 93 total assists. Her 4.41 assist/turnover ratio is the best in the country. She averages 8.8 points per game and shoots 40-percent from the field.
Means is third in the league averaging 2.4 steals per game. Mercer is outrebounded by 1.7 rebounds per game, but is second in the league with 13.8 offensive rebounds per game. Leading the Bears on the boards is junior Amanda Thompson who averages 6.5 a game. Thompson's 3.1 offensive rebounds per game is second in the league. She averages 7.1 points per game, shooting 51-percent from the field.
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