GREENVILLE, S.C. – Ariana Bennett and Abigail Holtman scored 16 points apiece and Mercer took advantage of 22 Furman turnovers to claim an 80-63 victory in Southern Conference women's basketball action Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena.

The win improves Mercer to 16-11 overall on the season and to 6-6 in SoCon play.  Furman, which lost its fourth consecutive home game, falls to 16-12 overall and 8-5 league action.  The Paladins play host to Wofford next Saturday in the regular season finale for both teams.
 
Mercer trailed 31-23 with three minutes remaining in the first half but turned the game around with 10-0 run to take a 34-31 lead into intermission after Holtman was fouled and drained a pair of free throws with less than a second on the clock.
 
Furman managed to tie the game twice in the third period and trailed 53-43 with three minutes remaining before trimming the Bears' lead to 55-50 heading to the fourth quarter.
 
Alyssa Ervin's jump shot at the 6:00 mark pulled Furman to within 62-61, but the Bears' Micah O'Dell, following a Mercer offensive rebound, was sent to the line for three free throws, which she coverted to stretch the advantage to 65-61.
 
An O'Dell 3-pointer with 2:18 remaining gave Mercer a 72-63 lead and effectively settled the result as the Bears, who converted 14-of-15 free throws over the final 10 minutes and 24-of-28 for the game, finished the contest on a 13-0 run.
 
Nahawa Diarra contributed 14 points, and O'Dell finished with 11.
 
Mercer shot 40 percent for the game, connecting on 26-of-65 shots.  Furman, meanwhile, put up just 47 field goal attempts, making only 18 (38.3%), the 22 turnovers proving costly as the Bears, credited with 16 steals, outscored the Paladins 20-11 on the miscues.
 
Ervin paced Furman with 19 points, and Raina McGowens finished with 13.  Clare Coyle finished with 11 points and a game high 14 points for her 10^th double-double of the season.
 
Chantelle Stuart also scored 11 points but fouled out after playing just 18 minutes.