Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Ten Days of A-Sun Basketball takes a few minutes to preview the Mercer Bears. For the second consecutive year, Mercer returns four starters from its previous season. However, there is an asterisk associated with this year’s squad. One of those starters will miss this year after suffering a knee injury at the end of the 2005-06 season. Mercer will also be under the direction of a new head coach. The Bears finished 14-15 overall and 10-10 in the Atlantic Sun Conference last season, reaching the Atlantic Sun Tournament semifinals before falling to eventual tourney champion Florida Atlantic. Along with four starters, the team returns 13 letterwinners from last season, giving the Bears a lot of depth

Coach Sybil Blalock on the Bears

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SEASON PREVIEW - (Courtesy Mercer Media Relations)

Senior guard Sally Skeldon, junior guard Erin Keller and junior forward Zsaquez Flucker will carry the load for Mercer this season. The trio contributed to 57 percent of Mercer's field goals last season. Perhaps the biggest adjustment on the court will be for interim head coach Sybil Blalock. Blalock, a 1975 graduate of Mercer and star of the program's early years, takes over the reins of the program for this season. She has been out of coaching the past five seasons, but is a veteran assistant coach with 16 years of experience.

“My goals for this team are to make them better basketball players and to be good at what we do,” said Blalock. “Then the wins and losses will take care of themselves.”

The Bears return both of their starting guards from last season, senior Sally Skeldon and junior Erin Keller. Mercer returns five other guards, and adds a pair to the cupboard.

“I expect the guards to be leaders, both on and off the court. I expect them to help the rest of the team understand the offense and to know what options we should be looking at in game situations,” said Blalock, a former point guard.

Skeldon led the Atlantic Sun in assists last season with 179, the sixth best single-season mark in Mercer history. The senior missed three games due to injuries, but ranked third nationally with 6.9 assists per game. She also averaged 5.2 points per game and ranked 31st in the country with 2.7 steals per game.

“I expect her to be a coach on the floor. I hope she will take advantage of her opportunities to score this year,” said Blalock. “She can create for her teammates, but in the process of that she gets open a lot. I am hoping that she will take advantage of her scoring opportunities this year.”

Read the full season preview

10 Days of A-Sun Basketball Schedule
Oct. 16 - Belmont
Oct. 17 - Campbell
Oct. 18 - ETSU
Oct. 19 - Gardner-Webb
Oct. 20 - Jacksonville
Oct. 23 - Kennesaw State
Oct. 24 - Lipscomb
Oct. 25 - Mercer
Oct. 26 - UNF
Oct. 27 - Stetson