Monday, December 02, 2002

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (Dec. 2, 2002)- Middle Tennessee State shot a torrid 59 percent from the floor and East Tennessee State shot 45 percent in a 95-70 MTSU victory over the Lady Bucs Monday night from Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tenn. East Tennessee State falls to 1-5 on the season while Middle Tennessee State runs their record to 2-1 with the win. Lady Buc sophomore forward Tiffani Mayes (Sumter, S.C.) came off the bench to have a huge game, scoring a Lady Buc season-high and a career-high 20 points on 8-10 shooting. Mayes also had a team-high two blocked shots and tied for the Lady Buc lead with six rebounds. Junior forward Lauren Trantham (Asheville, N.C.) also had six boards and added 12 points for ETSU. Freshman guard B.J. Banjo (Baltimore, Md.) dished out a team-high five assists for the Lady Bucs. MTSU Freshman Tia Stovall had a career and season high 23 points on the night. Stovall, a forward from Winchester, TN, paced six Lady Raiders in double figure scoring. She was 10-of-12 from the field and also led the team, with a career-high nine rebounds and also had five steals. East Tennessee State had 11 steals on the evening, leading to 19 Lady Raider turnovers. Senior guard Kiya Verdell (Hartwell, Ga.) had a team-high four steals for the Lady Bucs.But the Lady Raiders snagged 18 steals as a team, forcing ETSU into 31 turnovers. The Lady Bucs will now return home from their season-opening six game road trip for their home opener Thursday night at 7 p.m. against Tusculum College from Memorial Center in Johnson City, Tenn.