Tulane Drops Overtime Thriller to Mercer

Sunday, December 21

NEW ORLEANS

1:30 p.m.

Tulane University

5-7,0-0American

Mercer University

9-5,0-0SoCon

OT 1

Mercer

Tulane

Dec 21, 2025 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Postgame Press Conference

By: Wyatt Streett

NEW ORLEANS – In the championship game of the Tulane Holiday Tournament Sunday afternoon, Kendall Sneed's clutch driving layup in the final seconds of regulation forced overtime against the Mercer Bears. However, the Bears secured some key plays down the stretch in the extra frame to hold off the Tulane comeback efforts as the Bears won 70-67 and claimed the tournament crown at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse. Tulane concludes non-conference play at 5-7 while Mercer improves to 9-5.

Mercer held a shooting advantage on the night, connecting at a 37.9 percent rate with a 36.0 percent clip from three. Tulane hit at a 33.3 percent clip and 14.3 percent beyond the arc. The Green Wave owned the glass, 52-38, with an 18-5 offensive rebounding advantage. However, Tulane was only able to convert those extra possessions into seven second chances points. The Wave did most of its damage inside, collecting 42 points in the paint while holding Mercer to just 14, but the Bears tripled the three-point output with nine treys to Tulane's three.

The contest was a see-saw affair the whole way, as it featured 10 ties and 13 lead changes. Each team led for a similar amount of time, with Mercer claiming a little over a three-minute edge at 19:55 to Tulane's 16:13.

Four Wave played scored in double figures, led by Kendall Sneed's 15 points. She added seven rebounds, a block, a steal, and an assist. Dyllan Hanna tied her high in a Tulane uniform with 14 points. She contributed seven rebounds with a pair of blocks and steals. CC Mays netted 13 points with five boards and two helpers. Amira Mabry rounds out the quartet with a double-double by way of 10 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. It's her second double-double of the season and the eighth of her career. Kanija Daniel dished five assists to tie her career best and lead the team. She added seven points and two steals to tie for the team lead.

A tone for the back-and-forth contest was set early, as Tulane scored first off the hand of Kendall Sneed, but Mercer parried with an immediate three. After the score leveled out at five-all, Amira Mabry popped from three. However, Mercer began to chip away and pulled in front at 10-9. The Bears then stretched their lead to 17-10 near the end of the opening frame, but Tulane added three foul shots in the final minute to trim the deficit to 17-13.

Defenses were strong for both teams to open the second, as Tulane finally broke through at the 8:48 mark with a pair at the charity stripe by CC Mays. Mays put home the quarter's first field goal at the 8:18 mark with a game-tying lay-in, and Mabry also went inside a couple minutes later. Mercer broke through at the 6:28 mark for its first score of the quarter, tying the game at 19-19. The teams traded some blows with a Bear three extending their lead to 15-21. Dyllan Hanna and Mays went back-to-back to tie the game, and the score was knotted at 25-all entering halftime.

After trading scores to open the second half, Mays connected beyond the arc to push Tulane in front 30-26. Mabry free throws later had Tulane ahead 34-26, but a five-point Mercer run kept the Bears in striking distance. Mercer continued to chip away, pulling ahead with a three. However, Hanna flipped the score again with a bucket inside. The squads entered a stretch of trading free throws before a Mercer trey with 1:22 on the clock pulled the Bears within 45-44. Hanna added a layup in the final minute, but another Bear three in the final 30 seconds knotted the score at 47-47 to enter the fourth quarter.

Sneed delivered a three-point play to kick off the fourth frame, but Mercer rallied off seven points in a row to take a 54-50 lead. Sneed again scored, but it was matched on the other end. As the teams traded blows, time continued to run thin, but a clutch Kayla Hampton triple with 4:15 left kept Tulane in it at 60-57. However, Mercer responded with its own three to nix the bucket. With just under a minute to go, the Tulane defense clamped down to help the offense. Kanija Daniel notched a steal, and she turned it into a layup. A Mercer player then stepped out of bounds aided by pressure from the Wave, and Sneed scored with 37 seconds to bring Tulane within 63-61. After the Bears split a pair of free throws, Hampton added a layup with five seconds to go. Down 64-63, Mercer again split two foul shots. On the ensuing possession, Sneed drove it home as time expired to tie the game and force overtime at 65-65.

The fatigue of a hard-fought defensive slugfest seemed to catch up to both teams with the extra stanza of action, as over the five minutes of overtime, the teams combined to shoot 1-of-15 from the floor. The lone field goal was scored by Sneed 26 seconds into the frame. From there, Mercer would go 0-for-3 from the floor but 5-of-6 at stripe, and that proved to be the difference as the Bears held Tulane off late to win 70-67 and claim the Tulane Holiday Tournament championship.

Upon the conclusion of the event, an all-tournament team was named by the participating coaches. The five-player team is listed below:

Abigail Holtman, Mercer (MVP)
Nahawa Diarra, Mercer
Amira Mabry, Tulane
Aaliyah McQueen, Detroit Mercy
Jermesha Frierson, Delaware State

This was Tulane's final non-conference game of the season. The Wave will get a break for the holidays before hitting the road on Tuesday, December 30, to kick off American Conference action at UTSA. Tip-off in San Antonio, Texas, is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

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