by JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Nov. 30, 2019) – The ETSU Women’s Basketball Team hit a roadblock in Brooks Gym Saturday afternoon, falling 75-60 to A10 foes Davidson in non-conference play. The Bucs move to 2-6 on the season.
The Bucs’ offense was paced by E’Lease Stafford (Navajo), who for the second time in as many games hit a career-high in points with 16 to go along with her six rebounds. Micah Scheetz (Knoxville, Tenn.) finished with 12 points while Tijuana Kimbro (Memphis, Tenn.) finished one rebound shy of her first double-double, ending on 11 points and nine rebounds. Amaya Adams (Kansas City, Mo.) capped off a career-high for her as well with nine rebounds, while tying her previous best nine points. Kaia Upton (Nashville, Tenn.) created a team-high six assists and two steals in the loss.
ETSU shot 32.1% (18-56) from the field, shooting a 30.8% (4-13) clip from the arc and a strong 76.9% (20-26) mark from the free-throw line. The Bucs outrebounded their opponents 39-34 but gave up a 42-26 advantage on points in the paint.
Davidson ran the floor early and often as the Bucs fell victim to a 14-0 run to start the contest. Adams found the hot hand early for the Bucs scoring the first four points for ETSU as the Blue and Gold looked to cut into their early deficit, managing to knock the margin down to 10 points entering the second.
ETSU used the free throw line in the second quarter to make it a contested battle, shooting 8-8 from the line in the second frame. As both sides traded shots throughout the second ten-minute period, Stafford grabbed an offensive board and put back on the offensive end, followed by a steal on the defensive side of the floor. The sophomore found her counterpart Adams as the Bucs cut the deficit to just seven points with three minutes remaining in the quarter. The Wildcats responded as the visiting team extended their lead back to 11 points to enter halftime leading 40-29.
ETSU shot 9-27 (33.3%) from the field in the first half but helped itself by shooting 9-10 from the charity stripe. Davidson entered the break shooting at a 17-30 (56.7%) clip over the half, the Buccaneer defense not allowing the Wildcats to the line in the opening 20 minutes.
The Bucs opened up the second quarter with a 12-2 run, pushing their lead to as much as 13 points with a 27-14 advantage with 6:24 remaining in the quarter. Appalachian State used an 8-0 run midway through the frame to try and get back in the game and cutting their deficit to as little as three, but back-to-back buckets from Arielle Harvey (Atlanta, Ga.) and a Jackson trey extended the Buc lead to 36-26 as the Blue and Gold headed into the locker room with a double-digit lead.
The Wildcats halftime adjustment proved beneficial, extending their lead with an 11-3 run to open the half to push it to 19 points. Davidson pushed the lead to 20 with just under four to play in the third as Adams used a layup with one second on the clock as the Bucs trailed 17 entering the last quarter.
Just three minutes into the fourth, the Wildcats once again used a run to kill any momentum in the comeback, a 9-0 run to start the quarter pushing the lead to 66-40. The Bucs showed fight until the end, scoring the last eight points in consolation, falling at home to the Wildcats by a 75-60 score line.
Davidson was led offensively by Sarah Donovan with 20 points, while Katie Turner (18) and Suzi Rose Deegan (13) also finished in double digits. The Wildcats assisted on 19 of their 32 baskets, led by Turner’s five. Davidson shot 32-62 (51.6%) from the field on the afternoon, 8-19 (42.1%) from beyond the arc.
The Blue and Gold are set to host their second of three consecutive games in Brooks Gym, hosting ACC foes Wake Forest in Thursday, December 5th in a 7 p.m. tipoff time.
