Lady Bucs hope to keep perfection intact against UNF Friday night

Sophomore Siarre Evans will play in her 50th game Friday.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Jan. 24, 2008) - Since joining the Atlantic Sun, the ETSU women's basketball team has faced North Florida four times and the Lady Buccaneers have walked away with a victory in all four of those meetings. ETSU will look to keep its perfect record in tact when they face the Ospreys Friday evening at 7 p.m. inside Memorial Center.

Conference play has treated the Lady Bucs well thus far; with ETSU posting a 4-1 mark as well as leading the league in seven statistical categories after those five games. The Lady Bucs rank first in scoring offense (77.8), scoring margin (+16.2), field goal percentage (.447), three-point field goal percentage (.424), assists (18.6), steals (14), and turnover margin (+5.2).

The ETSU marketing department is hosting Girl Scout night inside the Dome Friday. Every girl who wears their Girl Scout uniform will receive free admission into the ballgame. Also, a special giveaway will be handed out for the first 500 fans that enter through the gates.

Fans unable to attend the game can watch via the live video streaming accessed at ASun.TV or by clicking the link located above.

Below is a breakdown of Friday's match-up:

Lady Bucs' Last Game

Last season the ETSU women's basketball team came back from Nashville winless; however, on Monday the Lady Bucs will make the trip back to Johnson City seem that much sweeter after defeating Belmont, 73-63, inside the Curb Event Center.

With the win, ETSU snapped a four-game losing streak to the Bruins and improved to 8-10, 4-1 in the Atlantic Sun. Belmont suffered its first conference loss at home and fell to 9-9, 3-2. More importantly the Lady Bucs move into a tie for second-place in the conference standings.

ETSU was led by sophomore sensation Siarre Evans (Griffin, Ga.) as she scored a game-high 17 points, grabbed seven rebounds, dished out four assists and forced two steals in 34 minutes of work. Two other Lady Buccaneer stars reached double figures in scoring with TaRonda Wiles (Danville, Va.) adding 14 (on 6-of-8 shooting), and senior Michele DeVault (Columbus, Ohio) netted 13, including a perfect 3-for-3 from long range. Belmont was led by Jessica Bobbitt and Brooke Sunday's 17-point efforts in defeat.

About North Florida

Head coach Mary Tappmeyer does not have a senior on the squad this season and will have only two players with more than one year of experience on the roster: Jennifer Guldager and Jennifer Bowen, both juniors. The rest of the lineup consists of five sophomores and four freshmen.

UNF begins year two of its four-year transition into the Division I ranks. Last season the team finished 11-17 overall and 9-11 in conference play, finishing seventh in the Atlantic Sun Conference. This season, the Ospreys were selected eighth in the Atlantic Sun and currently stand at 8-9, 3-2 in the A-Sun. UNF is led by Jennifer Bowen who is averaging 10 points per game and Jennifer Guldager who grabs 6.2 rebounds per contest.

As a team, UNF averages 51.8 points per game and allows only 53.9 points; however, the Ospreys have trouble holding onto the ball as they turn the ball over 24.5 times a game.

The Series

The Lady Bucs have never lost to UNF in the four prior meetings of this series. The Ospreys gave ETSU a scare last season in Jacksonville, but the Lady Bucs were still able to manage a three-point victory, 61-58. In Johnson City, ETSU blew the Ospreys out of the water as they came away with a 39-point win, 87-48. Siarre Evans scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the Memorial Center victory; while Michele DeVault chipped in with 18.

Where the Lady Bucs Rank In the A-Sun

The Lady Bucs rank first in seven statistical categories among conference games only. ETSU leads the league in scoring offense (77.8), scoring margin (+16.2), field goal percentage (.447), three-point field goal percentage (.424), assists (18.6), steals (14), and turnover margin (+5.2).

Florida Love

The Lady Bucs are currently 6-0 against teams from the Sunshine State inside Memorial Center in their last six contests. ETSU has not lost at home to a team from Florida since Jan. 12, 2006 (Florida Atlantic).

Where's the Scoring coming from?

44 percent of the Lady Buccaneer 1,277 points scored this season has come inside the paint (558 points). However, only 18 percent of ETSU's points are coming from beyond the arc (225 points), leaving the remaining 38 percent of the scoring coming either at the free throw line (22 percent, 276 points) and the remaing 16 percent (218 points) of the scoring coming from longer jumpers.

Something has to Give...

The Lady Bucs enter Friday's game leading the conference in scoring at 70.9ppg, but North Florida ranks 11th in scoring at 51.8 per contest. However, on thedefensive end UNF ranks first, allowing only 53.9 points a game, where as ETSU ranks 10th as its opponents score 70 a contest.

Nifty Fifty...

Sophomore Siarre Evans will play in her 50th Lady Buccaneer contest Friday evening. Out those 50 career games, the Griffin, Ga. star has started in 47 of them. Also, senior Michele DeVault will be making her 50th consecutive start for the Lady Bucs tonight. In total, DeVault has played in 103 of the 108 games in her ETSU career (95 percent).

Home Sweet Home

Despite being 4-3 at home this season, the Lady Bucs have enjoyed a home court advantage throughout the past couple years. Since the start of the 2005-06 season, ETSU has won 24 of its 32 (.750) games played in Johnson City. Also, the Lady Bucs have won 18 of their last 22 (.818) home conference games; however ETSU had its seven-game home winning streak against A-Sun schools snapped on Saturday. It marked the first time ETSU lost a conference home game since falling to Belmont, 78-69, on Jan. 6, 2007.

A Look Ahead

The Lady Bucs will quickly pack their bags and make the eight and half hour journey to Jacksonville, Fla. ETSU and the Lady Dolphins tip off Monday afternoon (1 p.m.) inside Swisher Gymnasium.

Please visit www.ETSUBucs.com for more information on Lady Buccaneer basketball and all other ETSU athletic news.