MACON, GA. -- Shannon Titus scored 23 points and claimed nine rebounds to power Mercer past Furman, 71-57, in Southern Conference women's basketball play Saturday afternoon at Hawkins Arena.

The victory gave Mercer (10-4, 4-1 SoCon) the two-game home series sweep over Furman (5-9, 1-4 SoCon).

Titus was followed in the scoring column by back court mate Jada Lewis, who tallied 21 points. 

The Bears, who never trailed in the contest, shot 43.4 percent from the field (23x53), outscored the Paladins by 16 points at the free throw line, and took advantage of 18 Furman turnovers to compile a 21-2 differential on points off miscues.

Freshman Tate Walters paced Furman with 22 points and eight rebounds in her first full game running the point guard position for the injury-plagued Paladins.

Tierra Hodges joined Walters in double figures with 16 points.

The Paladins fell behind 16-2 out of the gate but battled back behind Walters' 10 first quarter points to trail 21-16 after one period.

Furman faced a 47-33 the third period deficit but managed to chip away and cut Mercer's lead to 60-54 following a Greyson Boone 3-pointer with 2:32 remaining.  The Bears, however, answered with a Titus jump shot on the ensuing possession to spark an 8-0 run that put the game in the win column.

The Paladins first half season schedule against teams who occupy positions one thru four in the SoCon standings continues on Thursday when they open a two-game set at Samford.