Saturday, December 15, 2007

CINCINNATI, Ohio (Dec. 15, 2007) - After having a week and half off in between games, the ETSU women's basketball team returns to the hardwood as they face 2007 Atlantic 10 Tournament Champion Xavier Sunday afternoon. Tip is set for 2 p.m. inside the Cintas Center.

The Lady Bucs are in the midst of a season-long five-game road stretch which includes trips to Radford, BIG EAST foe Georgetown and SEC challenger Alabama. ETSU is still searching for its first road win of the 2007-08 season, and first since Feb. 17, 2007, when the Lady Bucs defeated North Florida.

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

Lady Bucs Last Time Out

Sophomore TaRonda Wiles (Danville, Va.) scored a career-high 19 points, but it was not enough to carry ETSU past Davidson as the Wildcats downed the Lady Bucs, 79-61, last Thursday night. Wiles led all scorers as she finished 7-of-14 from the floor, grabbed five rebounds and forced three steals. Sophomore guard Siarre Evans (Griffin, Ga.) made it seven straight games to reach double figures in scoring, ending with 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Davidson had three players score in double figures, as Danielle Hemerka led the pack with 16 points.

About The Musketeers

The Musketeers finished the 2006-07 season with a 26-8 record and won the Atlantic 10 Championship for the third time since 2000. However, only five players remain from last year's roster and the team lost the services of four starters.

On the flip side, the Musketeers will look forward to the return of Amber Harris. Harris led the squad in scoring (16.3 ppg) and rebounding (8.9) last year and has already established XU's career record for blocks by swatting 136 shots during her freshman campaign. For her efforts, Harris was honored as the conference's Rookie of the Year and was just the third freshman ever to earn mention as an All-Atlantic 10 First Team pick.

This season Xavier is led by the three-headed monster of Jerri Taylor, Ta'Shia Phillips and Harris. Taylor and Harris both average 16.1 points per contest, while Phillips is a beast down low, posting 13.7ppg and 12.7 rebounds per contest. The Musketeers currently stand at 5-4 and have victories over North Carolina State, Penn State, Houston, Valparaiso, and McNeese State.

Broadcast Information

Fans can follow Sunday's game online via Gametracker courtesy of Xavier athletics. Please click link above to access audio.

The Series

This marks the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

Lady Bucs vs. the Atlantic 10 Conference

ETSU is 4-9 overall against current members of the A-10. The Lady Bucs have wins over Charlotte (3-5) and Fordham (1-0).

Complete Opposites

When it comes to free throw shooting Xavier and ETSU really do not mirror themselves. The Lady Bucs lead the Atlantic Sun in free throw shooting (75.3) and rank 29th in the country in that statistical category; while the Musketeers rank last in the A-10 from the charity stripe (55.9) and are 320th out of 326 teams in the country. In addition, when it comes to personal fouls ETSU ranks 316th (22.6 per game) compared to Xavier's 21st slot (14.4 per contest).

Road Trip

The Lady Bucs are in the midst of on a season-long five-game road swing that began last Thursday night at Davidson. The trip which started Dec. 6 will last all the way through Jan. 2, 2008 in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Along the way, ETSU will make stops in Cincinnati (Xavier), Radford, and the nations capital (Georgetown). According to mapquest.com the Lady Bucs will travel a little over 3,000 miles on the five-city journey.