JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Feb. 10, 2007) - For the second straight game the ETSU women's basketball team went over the 80-point plateau as they knocked off Campbell 84-66 on Saturday afternoon in Memorial Center. Four Lady Bucs reached double figures with Michele DeVault (Columbus, Ohio) leading the way with a game-high 21 points, one shy of tying her career high.
With the win ETSU improves to 14-9, 10-3 in the A-Sun and Campbell falls to 5-18, 3-10 A-Sun. The Lady Bucs have now won four straight inside the dome, including six of their last seven at home, while Campbell has lost five straight games. For the second straight contest every ETSU player who dressed got into the game, and the Lady Bucs move to 11-0 when scoring 70-plus points this season.
After falling behind early, 8-2, the Lady Bucs heated up quickly as they posted an 18-5 run and took a 20-13 lead with 10:10 on the clock. Campbell would get to within four, 22-18, when Letitia Dickson hit a three-pointer with 9:27 remaining; however, ETSU answered right back with a 12-4 run. Holly Moring (Irmo, S.C.) ignited the run as she responded right away coming off the bench with two quick treys. Moring's second three gave the Lady Bucs their largest lead of the half, 34-22, with 6:29 left before the break. The Lady Camels had one last run in them right before halftime as they cut the ETSU lead to four, 38-34, but a Brooke Wilhoit (Sevierville, Tenn.) three with eleven seconds remaining gave the Lady Bucs a 41-34 lead heading into the locker room.
Both teams shot the ball well in the first half as ETSU shot 57.1 percent (16-28), compared to 48.0 percent (12-25) by Campbell. The Lady Bucs were on fire from beyond the arc as they hit 7-of-11 (63.6 percent) of their threes, while seniors Moring and Wilhoit hit five-of-six. Wilhoit and Campbell's Marlena Murphy each led their teams at the break with 13 points.
Like they did Thursday night against Gardner-Webb, the Lady Bucs exploded out of the break as they scored the first seven points and took a 48-34 lead with only a minute and twenty-five seconds gone by in the second half. ETSU's lead would remain in double figures during the next four minutes, until a Lauren Arthur three-pointer got Campbell within seven, 51-44. The Lady Camels would cut the margin to four, 53-49, with 11:40 remaining, but that is as close as they would come. The Lady Bucs pushed their lead back into double digits as they went on an 11-4 run and took a 64-53 thanks to a Nichelle Akers (Sumter, S.C.) lay-up with 6:29 left in the game. A DeVault three with 5:26 remaining put ETSU up 15, 69-54, ending any chance of Campbell getting back into the game.
For the game the Lady Bucs finished 53.3 percent (32-60) from the field, while Campbell went 36.5 percent (23-63). ETSU buckled down on defense in the second half as they held the Lady Camels to 28.9 percent from the field.
The other three Lady Bucs who reached double figures were Wilhoit (13 points), Jenny Norman (Peachtree City, Ga.) with 11, and Siarre Evans (Griffin, Ga.) who picked up her eighth double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Murphy picked up her 11th double-double of the season as she led Campbell with 16 points and 14 rebounds.
ETSU will make its final road trip of the regular season when they head down to Jacksonville. The Lady Bucs will face Jacksonville on Thursday at 7 p.m. and will then play UNF on Saturday at 2 p.m. ETSU is 6-0 lifetime against the two teams from Jacksonville.
