Bucs beat Samford by conference season-high 28-point margin

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Jan. 27, 2018) – Behind Tianna Tarter’s (Johnson City, Tenn.) dominating performance of 33 points, ETSU cruised past the Samford Bulldogs, 76-48 on Saturday afternoon in Brooks Gym. The Bucs now improve to 13-9 and 6-1 in conference play, as the Bulldogs drop to 10-12 and 2-5 in the SoCon.  

Inside the Numbers

• ETSU used their sixth different lineup of the season.
• Tianna Tarter finished with 33 points, nine rebounds, six assists, and four steals. Her 33 points tied her season-high performance and was just six points away from tying her career-high.
• Tarter’s four steals has now moved her into fourth place in ETSU’s career steal records with 229 career steals.
• This was Tarters 20^th double-digit performance of the season, her sixth of the season when scoring 20 points or more and her 10^th game as the Bucs' leading scorer.
• Raven Dean (Charlotte, N.C.) was just short of a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds. Eight of those rebounds were on the defensive end.
• Sadasia Tipps (Hickory, N.C.) had the team high of 11 rebounds and also had seven points.
• Britney Snowden (Pensacola, Fla.) finished with 10 points and had four rebounds.
• The Bucs outrebounded the Bulldogs 48-30.
• ETSU finished the game with a 47.6 field goal percentage.
• Samford finished with a 65% free throw percentage, as Paige Serup went 4-4 and Ta’Naisha went 4-6. Hill had the team high of nine points.
• Samford’s Olivia Crozier went a perfect 4-4 in field goals to finish with eight points and had the team high of six rebounds.

First Quarter

• Britney Snowden started the scoring for the Bucs.
• Following a Samford three from Charity Brown, ETSU went on an 8-0 run over one minute as they went 3-3 in field goals.
• Samford was unable to score any field goals for six minutes. During this time, their only points came from free throws.
• After back-to-back layups by Snowden, the Bucs grabbed a 14-5 lead.
• Jada Craig (Winston-Salem, N.C.) returned to the court after missing the last six games.
• Tianna Tarter and Alayjah Sherer hit back-to-back three pointers, as the Bucs ended the first quarter with a 22-8 lead.

Second Quarter

• Samford scored right away to begin the second quarter, which led to a 7-0 run.
• ETSU was unable to score for the first three minutes before Sadasia Tipp made a layup and free throw after getting fouled on the play.
• Samford’s Cassidy Williams drained a three to make the score 26-18 as the Bulldogs would continue to trail.
• Tarter ended the first half draining a three at the buzzer to maintain a 10-point lead at the half, 33-23.
• At the half, Tarter had 13 points and eight rebounds.

Third Quarter

• Tarter dominated the third quarter with 16 points.
• She started off the scoring in the third quarter with a jumper and then stole the ball and made the layup. The steal was her 228^th career steal, which tied her with Tara Davis (2007-11) in ETSU’s career records.
• Raven Dean and Tianna Tarter had back-to-back steals and layups to build a 10-0 run.
• During the run ETSU went 5-5 from the floor. Tarter, Dean, Shy Copney (Johnson City, Tenn.), Tipps, and Snowden all contributed.
• Samford went four for five in field goals before facing a three-minute scoring drought to end the period.
• Tarter once again showed her athletic ability and drained a three to end the third quarter at the buzzer to give the Bucs a 62-36 lead.

Fourth Quarter

• Samford scored first to begin the last quarter. The basket came from Ta’Naisha Hill’s three-pointer.
• Hill gave the Bulldogs two more points after making both free throws.
• Copney and Dean continued to give ETSU points with layups.
• Tarter hit her fifth three pointer of the game, was fouled on the play and made the free throw to conclude her 33-point game.
• For the last seven minutes of play, Samford was unable to make any field goals. They went 7-8 from the free throw line.
• Dean’s final layup would end the scoring for the Bucs, as they would blow past Samford to a 28-point win.

Up Next

ETSU hits the road for a three-game conference road stretch. They will begin at UNC-Greensboro on Thursday, Feb. 1 with tip-off at 5:30 p.m.

Post-Game Quotes

Tianna Tarter

On a 28-point win…. “It feels good. We knew we couldn’t come out and be down after last game, so we just came out with a lot of energy.”

On what she learned from the Mercer game… “We know that we can’t just come out and lay down no matter who the team is. We just have to keep playing and keep playing hard.”

On getting a win before going back on the road… “Coach always tells us it’s hard playing on the road, so we had to get this win today.”

Raven Dean

On what she learned from the Mercer game… “We have to stay together through adversity and when we’re up or when we’re down. We have to play through.”

On how important it was to make a statement before hitting the road… “I don’t really think we were trying to make a statement. We were just trying to play our type of basketball and play together.”

Coach Ezell

On the win and Tianna dropping another 33 points… “I was really proud of the way that the kids came back after a big disappointment on Thursday. I thought we showed a lot of grit. We had some key kids step forward in Erica’s absence. I thought Jada’s return was really welcomed and if anybody liked it any more than I did, it was probably Tianna. We can move her (Tianna) off the ball some and free her up. She gets 33 on her 12-20 shooting and it was a phenomenal night for her. I think that speaks volumes about our team to have that kind of performance after a disappointing Thursday.”

On Raven and Sadasia starting to break out… “I think they are starting to get more comfortable. Sometimes kids have to be reminded how good they are. Sometimes kids just need to be reminded that they’re really good and really talented. Both of them are extremely athletic. They are both very skilled and they can do some things that they haven’t been doing. We just try to encourage them to be who they are. To relax. To play their game. It compliments the rest of the team. That’s the whole point of a team. People have your back when you mess up. They went out and tried some things tonight. They were successful in some moments, unsuccessful in others, but I want them to continue to try. That’s how you get better.”

On this win being a reminder how good the team is… “I think today was a good reminder that yeah we’re a pretty good basketball team. Like I said on Thursday, I don’t think Mercer is that much better than us. It was a nine-point game at one point and then it just kind of spiraled after that. We have a lot of things to learn. We have a lot of ways that we can grow. I was thrilled that our kids found themselves a little more today and we needed that.”

ETSU fans wanting to receive Buccaneer news, score updates, in-game promotions and much more sent to their mobile device can do so by signing up for “Buc Updates.” Click here to sign up today!

For more information on Buccaneer women’s basketball visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the women’s basketball page.