Wednesday, February 25, 2009

(Feb. 25, 2009) - Coming off a perfect 4-0 road swing, the ETSU women's basketball team looks to keep its grip on winning at least a share of the 2009 Atlantic Sun regular season title, beginning Thursday afternoon when the Lady Bucs tip off against Kennesaw State. Game time is set for 4:45 p.m.

The Lady Bucs (17-9, 15-3) enter Thursday's contest a half-game behind Florida Gulf Coast (23-4, 16-3) for first-place in the conference standings. The Eagles - who only have one game remaining - travel to Buies Creek, N.C. on Thursday night to take on Campbell. Should both ETSU and FGCU win out they will each earn a share of the regular season crown.

ETSU almost let a chance of winning a second straight regular season title slip past them on Monday night, as the Lady Bucs had to rally past USC Upstate in Spartanburg. Junior guard Siarre Evans (Griffin, Ga.) was unstoppable as she finished with a career high 35 points on 11-of-21 shooting. In addition, Evans recorded her fifth straight double-double (15^th of the season) - tallying 10 rebounds in 40 minutes of work. In six games this month, the preseason all-conference selection has been explosive, as she is averaging 20.7 points, 11.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 35.5 minutes. Also, Evans is hitting 50.6 percent of her shots (45-89) and 47.1 percent from beyond the arc (16-34).

Joining Evans with stellar play in February include juniors TaRonda Wiles (Danville, Va.) and Latisha Belcher (Martinsville, Va.). Wiles is posting 16.0 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists per contest, while Belcher is averaging 15.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.3 steals in 32.3 minutes. In addition, Belcher needs only 11 more steals to break Nicole Hopson's single-season record of 90, set back in the 1990-91 campaign.

Kennesaw State (15-12, 11-7) has won four straight and six of its last seven games. The Owls will be looking to avenge their one-point (79-78) overtime loss to the Lady Bucs back in December. Kennesaw has won each of its last four games by double figures, with the last being an 18-point win at Jacksonville State on Monday night, 69-51. 

Senior guard Jennifer Baker leads the team in scoring 12.7, while fellow senior and reigning A-Sun Player of the Year Britteny Henderson is averaging 11.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per contest. 

Reserved seat tickets for Lady Buccaneer Basketball games are $5 for adults and $3 for children 17 and under. However, fans who wear pink will get in for only $1, which runs in correlation with ETSU's Pink Zone event. ETSU students are admitted to games free of charge with a valid ETSU ID.

Tickets are available on game days at the center gate on the upper concourse, and can be purchased in advance by calling the ETSU Ticket Office at 423-439-3878 or online at ETSUBucs.com.  Tickets can also be picked up in person at the ETSU Ticket Office in the Memorial Center from 8:30-4:30 from Monday through Friday.

Fans unable to make the trip to Johnson City can view all the action live on ASun.TV. Live stats will also be available by clicking the link shown above.

For more information on Lady Buccaneer basketball, visit www.ETSUBucs.com.