Saturday, February 28, 2004

STATESBORO, Ga. (Feb. 28, 2004) -- Georgia Southern outscored the East Tennessee State women's basketball team 37-25 in the second half, as the Eagles easily rolled to a 70-55 victory Saturday night over ETSU at Hanner Fieldhouse in Statesboro, Ga. The Lady Bucs conclude the 2003-04 regular season with two straight road losses and finish 13-13 overall and tied for third place in the Southern Conference with a mark of 13-7. Senior Kiya Verdell (Hartwell, Ga.) led the ETSU offense with 19 points on 7-of-16 shooting, including a pair of 3-pointers. Verdell also came up with five steals on the defensive end, tying a season high. Junior Tiffani Mayes (Sumter, S.C.) added 17 points to go along with a team-best six rebounds. Georiga Southern (14-13, 9-11) dominated the glass, outrebounding the Lady Bucs 47-31. Jessica Everett celebrated senior day by scoring her 1,000th career point. Everett netted 17 points, followed by Nicole Newton's 13-point effort. ETSU will play its first game of the 2004 Southern Conference Women's Basketball Championships at McAlister Field House in Charleston, S.C., as either a No. 4 seed or a No. 5 seed, this Thursday, March 4 at 11 a.m. The Lady Bucs will earn the No. 4 seed if Furman defeats Elon on Sunday, Feb. 29 and will face Elon. However, if Elon defeats the Paladins on Sunday, then ETSU will slip to a No. 5 seed and will face No. 4 Furman in the quarterfinals.