# 2018–19 Mercer Bears women's basketball team

The 2018–19 Mercer Bears women's basketball team represented Mercer University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Bears, led by ninth-year head coach Susie Gardner, played their home games at the Hawkins Arena as members of the Southern Conference (SoCon). They finished the season 25–3, 16–0 in Southern Conference play win the Southern Conference regular season. They won the SoCon women's tournament to earn an automatic trip to the NCAA women's tournament, where they lost to Iowa in the first round.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 9, 2018* 7:00 pm | | at Wake Forest | L 54–69 | 0–1 | LJVM Coliseum (312) Winston–Salem, NC |
| Nov 12, 2018* 6:30 pm | | at Georgia Southern | W 79–72 | 1–1 | Hanner Fieldhouse (252) Statesboro, GA |
| Nov 15, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Florida | W 92–82 | 2–1 | Hawkins Arena (2,038) Macon, GA |
| Nov 18, 2018* 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | UCF | L 42–76 | 2–2 | Hawkins Arena (446) Macon, GA |
| Nov 23, 2018* 4:00 pm | | vs. Memphis Coastal Carolina Thanksgiving Classic | L 53–59 | 2–3 | HTC Center (247) Conway, SC |
| Nov 25, 2018* 11:30 am | | vs. Bowling Green Coastal Carolina Thanksgiving Classic | W 76–63 | 3–3 | HTC Center (106) Conway, SC |
| Nov 28, 2018* 7:00 pm, SECN+ | | at Georgia | L 60–67 | 3–4 | Stegeman Coliseum (2,117) Athens, GA |
| Dec 1, 2018* 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Kennesaw State | W 64–48 | 4–4 | Hawkins Arena (565) Macon, GA |
| Dec 5, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Florida State | L 56–57 | 4–5 | Hawkins Arena (1,072) Macon, GA |
| Dec 8, 2018* 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Charlotte | W 57–40 | 5–5 | Hawkins Arena (827) Macon, GA |
| Dec 18, 2018* 7:00 pm, YouTube | | at Howard | W 85–70 | 6–5 | Burr Gymnasium (576) Washington, D.C. |
| Dec 21, 2018* 12:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at George Washington | W 61–53 | 7–5 | Charles E. Smith Center (714) Washington, D.C. |
| Dec 30, 2018* 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | UNC Asheville | W 61–47 | 8–5 | Hawkins Arena (478) Macon, GA |
| Jan 2, 2019* 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Jacksonville | L 66–71 | 8–6 | Swisher Gymnasium (445) Jacksonville, FL |
| Jan 6, 2019* 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Columbia | L 68–72 | 8–7 | Hawkins Arena (565) Macon, GA |
| SoCon Regular Season ||||||
| Jan 12, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Samford | W 76–68 $^{OT}$ | 9–7 (1–0) | Hawkins Arena (2,277) Macon, GA |
| Jan 17, 2019 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Western Carolina | W 69–67 | 10–7 (2–0) | Ramsey Center (741) Cullowhee, NC |
| Jan 19, 2019 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at UNC Greensboro | W 71–58 | 11–7 (3–0) | Fleming Gymnasium (529) Greensboro, NC |
| Jan 24, 2019 5:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Chattanooga | W 65–58 | 12–7 (4–0) | Hawkins Arena (1,891) Mercer, GA |
| Jan 26, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | East Tennessee State | W 64–41 | 13–7 (5–0) | Hawkins Arena (2,027) Mercer, GA |
| Jan 31, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Wofford | W 87–79 | 14–7 (6–0) | Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium (412) Spartanburg, SC |
| Feb 2, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Furman | W 75–60 | 15–7 (7–0) | Timmons Arena (407) Greenville, SC |
| Feb 9, 2019 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Samford | W 68–52 | 16–7 (8–0) | Pete Hanna Center (278) Birmingham, AL |
| Feb 14, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | UNC Greensboro | W 85–73 | 17–7 (9–0) | Hawkins Arena (1,073) Macon, GA |
| Feb 16, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Western Carolina | W 71–55 | 18–7 (10–0) | Hawkins Arena (876) Macon, GA |
| Feb 21, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at East Tennessee State | W 83–77 $^{OT}$ | 19–7 (11–0) | J. Madison Brooks Gymnasium (703) Johnson City, TN |
| Feb 23, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Chattanooga | W 62–58 | 20–7 (12–0) | McKenzie Arena (1,528) Chattanooga, TN |
| Feb 28, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Furman | W 66–62 | 21–7 (13–0) | Hawkins Arena (1,234) Mercer, GA |
| Mar 2, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Wofford | W 65–59 | 22–7 (14–0) | Hawkins Arena (1,347) Mercer, GA |
| SoCon Tournament ||||||
| Mar 7, 2019 11:00 am, ESPN+ | (1) | vs. (8) Western Carolina Quarterfinals | W 55–32 | 23–7 | U.S. Cellular Center Asheville, NC |
| Mar 8, 2019 11:00 am, ESPN+ | (1) | vs. (5) Wofford Semifinals | W 69–51 | 24–7 | U.S. Cellular Center Asheville, NC |
| Mar 10, 2019 12:00 pm, Nexstar/ESPN+ | (1) | vs. (2) Furman Championship Game | W 66–63 | 25–7 | U.S. Cellular Center (1,280) Asheville, NC |
| NCAA Women's Tournament ||||||
| Mar 22, 2019* 2:00 pm, ESPN2 | (15 G) | at (2 G) No. 8 Iowa First Round | L 61–66 | 25–8 | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (10,720) Iowa City, IA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. G=Greensboro Region. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## Rankings

2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings
Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | Not ranked previous week |
| (RV) | Received Votes |
| (NR) | Not Ranked |