First of two games for ETSU in the UNCW Seahawks Hampton Inn Christmas Invitational

WILMINGTON, N.C. (Dec. 18, 2014) – The ETSU women’s basketball team will aim to stay unbeaten in the month of December when it takes on UNC Wilmington on Friday at 11:30 a.m. inside Trask Coliseum as part of the UNCW Hampton Inn Christmas Classic.

The Bucs (7-4) and the Seahawks (2-5) will square off in the fourth all-time meeting between the two teams; a series that UNCW leads, 2-1. The schools last went head to head on Jan. 9, 1991 when ETSU came away with a 64-57 decision in Wilmington.

Winners of four straight, the Blue & Gold will enter the contest on a roll following an 86-77 win at Morehead State on Monday afternoon. After back and forth action over the first 10 minutes of the contest, the Bucs began to take control behind an offensive explosion featuring 14 made three-pointers over the course of the game. Four double-digit scoring performers contributed to the outburst on the offensive end, led by a career-high 20 points from junior guard Chandler Christopher (Greeneville, Tenn.). In addition, freshman point guard Tianna Tarter (Johnson City, Tenn.) posted 17 points including season-bests of four made three-pointers and seven assists which aided in her being selected as CRONS SoCon Freshman of the Week on Tuesday.

Conversely, UNCW is losers of four-straight including most recently a 77-67 home setback to Richmond on Wednesday evening. The Seahawks were paced by a season-high 20 points from sophomore guard Brie Mobley. Senior guard Kelva Atkins also added 17 points in the defeat. Atkins leads the team with 16.3 points per game and was named Preseason First Team All-Colonial Athletic Conference going into the year for a squad that was picked to finish last in the 10-team league. The Seahawks are led by third-year head coach Adell Harris.

ETSU remains as the Southern Conference’s highest-scoring team with 76.3 points per game. The Bucs are also shooting an efficient 45 percent from the field – also good for first in the league – and are holding opponents to a SoCon-best 25 percent shooting behind the arc. The Blue & Gold is also blocking shots at a 4.2 per game rate which is second in the conference and holds a third-best +1.5 rebound margin.

All five of ETSU’s starters are averaging double-figures; highlighted by Shamauria Bridges’ (Miramar, Fla.) 16.2 points per contest. Bridges’ points-per-game average ranks fourth-best in the league and her 3.5 three-point makes per game is best in the conference. In addition, Destiny Mitchell’s (Bluffton, Ga.) 9.2 rebounds per contest – including 4.1 offensive boards per -- is second in the SoCon and Tarter’s 4.1 assists per contest ranks second in the league. Additionally, Maria Bond (Macon, Ga.), Mitchell and Tarter each rank in the top five in the SoCon in field goal percentage with all three above 50 percent.

For more information on ETSU women’s basketball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the women’s hoops link. Season tickets can be purchased here. Follow along with the Bucs on social media with Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

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