Friday, February 11, 2011

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Feb. 11, 2011) - The ETSU women's basketball team is gearing up for its final homestand of the regular season, beginning Saturday afternoon when the Lady Bucs host North Florida. Tip is set for 1:30 p.m.

Fans who wear pink to the game will receive $1 admission as Saturday marks ETSU's Women's Basketball Coaches Association Pink Zone game for breast cancer awareness. The festivities begin at 11 a.m. with a special pregame concert, tailgate, free food (first 300 fans) and Charity Carnival. All the proceeds from the event will be donated to the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.

The Lady Bucs look to return to the win column after suffering an 81-65 setback at Florida Gulf Coast Monday evening. Following the defeat, ETSU (14-10, 11-4) sits three games behind the Eagles for first, but the Lady Bucs hold a game and a half lead over North Florida and Campbell for the number-one seed in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament.

Freshman Destiny Mitchell (Bluffton, Ga.) has posted four straight double-doubles and is averaging 17.5 points and 11.8 rebounds during this stretch. Mitchell, who has 11 double-doubles on the season, currently ranks third in the A-Sun in field goal percentage (51.8), fourth in rebounding (9.3) and steals (2.3), and fifth in scoring (15.1).

Meanwhile, North Florida (11-12, 9-5) has won five straight and nine of its last ten, while the Ospreys are coming off a series sweep over Jacksonville.

The Ospreys are led by junior guard Brittany Kirkland's 15.0 points per game, while sophomore post Larkira Jones is posting 7.6 points and 10.9 rebounds in 14 league games. As a team, UNF is averaging 56.0 points per game and turning the ball over nearly 22 times per contest.

ETSU leads the all-time series 9-2, but the Ospreys defeated the Lady Bucs, 65-62, in the last meeting back on Jan. 17 in Jacksonville. The Lady Bucs are 5-0 against UNF in Johnson City, with all five wins being greater than 15 points per game.

Fans unable to make the trip to the Dome can watch all the action live on A-Sun.TV, while Voice of the Lady Bucs John Stevens will have the play-by-play on WXSM-AM 640. Live stats will also be provided via Gametracker.

One lucky student will also receive $50 cash, which will be announced during the second half of the game.

For more information on Lady Buccaneer hoops, visit www.ETSUBucs.com.