Late rally falls short as Lady Bucs fall to Xavier 76-67

DeVault

Sunday, December 16, 2007

CINCINNATI, Ohio (Dec. 16, 2007) - The ETSU women's basketball team outscored Xavier (41-40) in the final 20 minutes, but it was not enough to carry ETSU over Xavier as the Musketeers downed the Lady Bucs, 76-67, Sunday afternoon inside Cintas Center.

The Lady Bucs saw three score in double figures. Leading the way was sophomore guard Siarre Evans (Griffin, Ga.) who has now had eight straight games to score in double figures and picked up her fourth double-double of the season, ending with 21 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Senior Michele DeVault (Columbus, Ohio) netted 19 and grabbed three boards, while freshman Tara Davis (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) netted a season-high 10 point. Xavier had three players score in double figures, with Jerri Taylor leading the pack with 24 points.

In the first half, both teams played evenly as the game was tied at 10 with 13:55 on the clock. DeVault helped guide the Lady Bucs, scoring five of their first eight points. However, in the final two minutes the Lady Buccaneers went cold and Xavier used a 6-0 run to head into the break with a 10 point advantage.

ETSU hit 33-percent of its shots (10-30) in the first half and was perfect from the charity stripe going 2-2. On the other side, Xavier finished 12-of-25 (48 percent) from the field and was also perfect from the free-throw line going 10-10.

The Lady Bucs started the second half lowering Xavier's lead to seven, 36-29, but the Musketeer's put together a 10-0 run to push its advantage to 17 with 17:28 to play. ETSU answered with a run of its own, posting a 17-5 spurt to cut the lead to six, 69-63, with 1:26 remaining in the contest. Senior Jenny Norman (Peachtree City, Ga.) sparked the Lady Bucs during the run, scoring six of the 17 points for ETSU. Unfortunately, the Lady Buc run came a little too late, as Xavier maintained the advantage of the game.

For the contest, ETSU shot 34.8 percent from the field (23-66); while Xavier hit 25-53 shots (47.2 percent). The Lady Bucs and Musketeers were even on rebounds each grabbing 37 boards for the contest.

The Lady Bucs will head to Radford to take on the Highlanders, on Thursday, Dec. 20. Tip is set for 7 p.m. inside the Dedmon Center before traveling to the nation's capital to take on Georgetown on Dec. 22. Please visit www.ETSUBucs.com for more information on Lady Buccaneer basketball and all other ETSU athletic news.