Monday, March 07, 2005

(March 5, 2005) - Two members of the Lady Bucs basketball squad were honored with spots on the 2005 Southern Conference All-Tournament Team.  ETSU point guard B.J. Banjo (Baltimore, Md.), who averaged 18.0 points per game in tournament play, was a member of the All-Tournament First Team, while teammate Candace Gibson (Warner Robins, Ga.) who led ETSU in the overtime thriller versus Georgia Southern with career-high's 27 points and 18 rebounds, was a member of the All-Tournament Second Team.

"Both B.J. and Candace had a great tournament in Chattanooga.  B.J. did such a tremendous job of leading the team on both ends of the court, while Candace stepped up her defensive and offensive presence without Tiffani (Mayes) on the court.  We are very excited and looking forward to both of these girls coming back for their senior seasons next year," Lady Bucs head coach Karen Kemp said.

ETSU defeated Appalachian State 74-64 in first-round action to advance to the quarterfinal round where they stunned top-seeded Chattanooga 55-50.  Facing Georgia Southern in the semifinal round on Friday, the Bucs and Eagles battled into overtime where GSU took the 73-71 victory and a spot in the championship contest.

The complete list of honorees is below:

2005 SOCON ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
First Team
Jennifer Gardner, Western Carolina
B.J. Banjo, East Tennessee State
Tiffany Brown, Georgia Southern
Dana Benemon, Georgia Southern
Lori Tanner, Western Carolina

Second Team
Lee Dubose, Georgia Southern
Candace Gibson, East Tennessee State
Sigita Maleraite, Western Carolina
Katie Hamilton, Davidson
Chevon Keith, Western Carolina

Tournament Outstanding Player
Jennifer Gardner, Western Carolina