Greenville, S.C. – The Furman women's basketball team begins Southern Conference play on Thursday evening when it welcomes the Mercer Bears to Timmons Arena for a 7 p.m. tipoff.

Fans can follow the action on www.furmanpaladins.com via live stats. The game is being streamed on ESPN+. Updates will also be posted on the Furman women's basketball Twitter page (@FurmanWBB).

The matchup consists of the top-two teams in the preseason for the Southern Conference with Furman being picked as the favorite by the league's head coaches and Mercer the media.

The Paladins (9-5) are coming off a 62-43 victory over Newberry on January 2 led by Tierra Hodges who compiled her third consecutive double-double, and team-leading seventh this season, on 12 points and 10 rebounds. Le'Jzae Davidson tied Hodges for the team-lead with 12 points. Hodges and Davidson both had a team-high three steals. Taylor Petty poured in nine points while Milica Manojlovic contributed six points, six assists and four rebounds.

Furman held a 38-16 advantage in points in the paint, 13-11 in points off turnovers and 4-2 in fast break points.

Davidson leads the Paladins offensively this season averaging 14.5 points per game while Hodges contributes 11.9 points and a team-leading 9.2 rebounds per game. Manojlovic dishes out a team-high 4.4 assists per game.

Mercer currently sits at 3-12 on the season after falling 77-48 at Columbia last Saturday. The Bears have three players averaging in double figures this season in Jaron Dougherty (15.3), Shannon Titus (13.0) and Amoria Neal-Tysor (11.7). Defensively, Titus leads the team in rebounding with 7.5 per game. Mercer is under the direction of tenth-year head coach Susie Gardner.

Furman is facing the Bears for the 18^th time in program history with Mercer leading the all-time series 13-4.

The Paladins head to downtown Greenville and Bon Secours Wellness Arena on Saturday afternoon to face Samford at 4:30 p.m.