Saturday, December 15, 2001

Cincinnati, Ohio (Dec. 15, 2001) - Belmont University played almost flawless defense, stealing the ball away from East Tennessee State 18 times and forcing 28 turnovers, on the way to a 94-71 victory over the Lady Bucs in the first round of the Active Ankle Invitational hosted by the University of Cincinnati. Belmont (8-0) led 50-34 after the first half of play, led by freshman Erica Davenport's 11 points. The Lady Bucs (4-4) were freshman guard Ashley Reed (Barrackville, W.Va.), who had 10 points in the first stanza. The Bruins forced 17 turnovers in the first half as Davenport registered five steals. The Bruins would open the second half on a 17-7 run to take a game-high 26-point lead, 67-41, with 13:58 remaining. Belmont was on fire from behind the arc in the second half, shooting 7-of-13 from three-point range. Freshman guard Ann Marie Gardner (Black Mountain, N.C.) played well in the second half for the Lady Bucs, scoring all 10 of her points, shooting 2-of-2 from the floor and 6-of-6 from the line. The Lady Bucs were led by Reed, who totaled 18 points, six rebounds and three steals. Reed has scored in double figures in six of her first eight games at ETSU. Sophomore forward Lauren Trantham (Asheville, N.C.) scored 10 points on the afternoon, shooting 4-of-5 from the floor. Belmont had four players score in double figures, led by Hollie Davis' 18 points, inlcuding hitting 6-of-11 three-point attempts. Kiki Radford added six steals and tied with Missy Walker for the team lead in rebounds with six. The Lady Bucs will take on Troy State on Sunday, Dec. 16 at 2:00 p.m. in the final game of the tournament for ETSU.