Friday, November 17, 2006

Johnson City, Tenn. (Nov. 17, 2006) - The ETSU women's basketball team dropped its home-opener to Davidson, 82-68, Friday night in Memorial Center. The Lady Bucs have lost three consecutive games to open their season, while the Wildcats improve to 2-0.

            The Lady Bucs had two players reach double figures as junior Michele DeVault (Columbus, Ohio) finished with a game-high 21 points, and freshman Siarre Evans (Griffin, Ga.) added 16. DeVault's 21 points tied her career high as she accomplished the feat last season at Mercer. Davidson's Katie Hamilton finished with a team-high 20 points.

            Davidson only needed the first minute and thirty-nine seconds of the second half to extended its two-point halftime lead to eight at, 40-32. Senior Brooke Wilhoit (Sevierville, Tenn.) ended the Wildcat run with a three-pointer, getting the Lady Bucs to within five. Davidson's lead would jump from five to seven points for about the next six minutes, until DeVault connected on a four-point play, cutting the Wildcat lead to three, 53-50 with 11:24 to go in the contest.

            During the next seven minutes the Wildcats mounted a 17-5 run, giving them its largest lead of the evening, 70-55 with 4:20 remaining. ETSU would cut the lead to 70-60 as they scored the next five points, however, that is as close as the Lady Bucs would get.

            Both teams jumped out to a fast start as ETSU hit six of its first 10 shots, and Davidson hit five of eight. Evans assisted on four of the Lady Bucs first five field goals, giving ETSU an 11-10 advantage with 15:44 remaining in the half.

            The Lady Bucs then went on 13-2 run, extending their lead to 24-12 when DeVault drove in for a lay up at the 11:22 mark. From there Davidson buckled down and went on a 22-8 run, holding ETSU to only two field goals in the final 9:41 of the first half. The Wildcats headed into the break leading, 34-32.

            DeVault was on fire in the first half, missing only two shots (6-8) and scoring 17 of her game-high 21 before the break. She has led the Lady Bucs in scoring all three times this season, and has made at least one three-pointer in 10 consecutive games dating back to last season. Evans' 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists were all career-bests.

           Davidson ended the game shooting 46.7 percent (28-60) from the field, compared to ETSU's 34.8 percent (23-66). The Lady Bucs did block six shots with Jenny Norman (Peachtree City, Ga.) leading the way with three.

           The Lady Bucs will continue its stretch of home games as Appalachian State visits Johnson City on Tuesday night. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m.