Saturday, November 11, 2006

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (Nov. 10, 2006) - The ETSU women's basketball dropped its season-opener to second-ranked North Carolina, 96-35, on Friday night at Carmichael Auditorium. Junior Michele DeVault (Columbus, Ohio) led the Lady Bucs with 13 points and Latoya Pringle and Jessica Breland each added 18 points for the Tar Heels.

DeVault came out in the second half scoring the first six points for ETSU by draining a pair of threes, and totaled 10 points in the second frame. However, the Tar Heels quickly cooled off the Lady Bucs, as they held ETSU without a field goal for 9:39. Freshman Siarre Evans (Griffin, Ga.) finally ended the drought for the Lady Bucs, by nailing a jumper with 7:51 remaining. In the end, second chance points and poor shooting hurt the Lady Bucs as they let the Tar Heels score 36 points off 33 offensive boards throughout the entire contest. North Carolina outrebounded the ETSU, 71-26.

The Tar Heels opened up to a quick 7-0 lead to start the game, but the Lady Bucs responded by going on a 10-4 run. Jenny Norman (Peachtree City, Ga.) narrowed the margin to 11-10, as she made a jumper with 13:43 remaining in the half. From there the Tar Heels held the Lady Bucs without a field goal for over nine minutes and took a 38-14 lead with under four minutes to go. Foul trouble forced senior Brooke Wilhoit (Sevierville, Tenn.) and junior Nichelle Akers (Sumter, S.C.) to sit out the majority of the half as they were both whistled for early fouls. The Lady Bucs were called for 13 fouls to only the Tar Heels three in the first half.

"We didn't stick to our game plan for the entire 40 minutes, and we couldn't control the pace of the game, said head coach Karen Kemp. "We wanted to slow the pace down, but they didn't allow us to do that. You can't be the No. 2 team with just two players. They have the total package."

The Lady Bucs will now travel to Columbia, S.C. to take on the Gamecocks of South Carolina on Sunday at 3 p.m. ETSU fans can either listen or watch the Sunday's game by visiting www.uscsports.com.