Wednesday, December 30, 2009

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (Dec. 30, 2009) - The Lady Bucs have played a difficult non-conference schedule, but on Thursday afternoon ETSU will face its biggest test of the season when they travel to Chapel Hill for a battle with the No. 7 North Carolina Tar Heels. Tip is set for 2 p.m. inside Carmichael Auditorium.

Not only will the ETSU women's basketball team say good-bye to 2009 with a New Years Eve matinee, but the Lady Bucs also close out non-conference play as their remaining 18 games in 2010 will be against Atlantic Sun foes.

ETSU (4-5) is coming off a 96-83 setback at 16th ranked Vanderbilt on Monday night inside Memorial Gymnasium. Senior TaRonda Wiles (Danville, Va.) poured in a season high 30 points and fellow senior Siarre Evans (Griffin, Ga.) recorded her seventh straight double-double (20 points/10 rebounds), but it was not enough to cool off the hot shooting from the Commodores. Vanderbilt shot 54.5 percent from the field and assisted on 20 of its 36 made field goals in the 13-point win.

Wiles and Evans have been red-hot in the month of December. In four games this month, Wiles is averaging 23.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 3.0 assists; while Evans is posting 21.3 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 2.7 steals in three December contests. As a team, ETSU has scored 80-plus points in three of the four games and is averaging 82.2 points this month.

North Carolina (10-1) defeated Kennesaw State 89-44 on Tuesday afternoon inside Carmichael. The Tar Heels have a well-balanced attack, as six players are averaging over 7.0 points per game. Junior guard Italee Lucas leads the team in scoring with 16.7ppg; while Cetera DeGraffenreid is posting 15.5 points and 6.0 assists per game. As a team, UNC is outscoring its opponents 82.5 to 60.5 and out-rebounding them 48.8 to 38.0.

The Tar Heels have won all 10 games in this series, including a 96-35 victory in the previous meeting to open the 2006-07 season.

Fans unable to make the trip to Chapel Hill can listen to all the action and follow along with live stats by visiting http://tarheelblue.cstv.com or clicking the link above.

For more information on Lady Buccaneer basketball, visit www.ETSUBucs.com.