JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Nov. 11, 2023) – After trailing by as many as eight points, the ETSU women's basketball team rallied to knock off Lafayette by a score of 51-43 at Brooks Gym on Saturday afternoon. With Saturday's victory, the Bucs improve to 1-1 on the season.
Kendall Folley paced the Bucs on the scoresheet for the second straight game with 14 points. Folley added six rebounds and three steals as well.
Courtney Moore added 13 points, while Neveah Brown also finished the day in double figures with 10 points. The Bucs held the edge on the glass, 32-31.
Journee McDaniel grabbed seven rebounds, including three offensive boards, in 19 minutes to led the charge. Furthermore, ETSU totaled 10 steals in the victory, which is the team's most in a game since last January at Furman when the Bucs logged 11 steals.
Lafayette got off to a fast start in Saturday's contest. The Leopards knocked down their first three 3-point attempts of the game and jumped out to a 11-4 lead at the first media timeout. Shortly after the media timeout, the Bucs closed the gap a bit with a 5-0 run. At the end of one frame, ETSU trailed Lafayette by five, 16-11 at the end of the first quarter.
The Leopards remained ahead of the Bucs for most of the second quarter. Late in the second, ETSU found its footing both offensively and defensively. The Bucs reeled off a 11-2 run to close the half and held the Leopards without a field goal the last three minutes. With the sudden switch in momentum, ETSU held a 26-25 lead at the half.
The one-point lead for ETSU did not grow much for most of the third quarter. The Bucs were able to build their advantage to eight points, 40-32, with around two minutes to go in the frame. A big key in this sudden turn for the Bucs was seven offensive rebounds for the team in the third quarter. With the Bucs crashing the boards so well, ETSU led by six, 40-34.
Defense helped the Bucs clinch their first win of the 2023-24 season. ETSU held Lafayette to 2-of-8 shooting from the field in the final quarter. Mixed in with that, Moore and McDaniel both hit key 3-pointers to keep the Leopards out of striking distance. A fastbreak layup from Folley pushed the Buc lead to a game-high 11 points with a little over six minutes to go. Lafayette was able to cut the deficit down to eight but that's where it stayed as ETSU went on to win, 51-43.
The Bucs will be back in action on Wednesday when it visits Radford in non-conference action. Tip-off between ETSU and Radford is set for 11:30 a.m. on ESPN+.
To purchase season or single game tickets for ETSU women's basketball, visit
ETSUTickets.com or call 423-439-3878.
For more information on Buccaneer women's basketball, visit
ETSUBucs.com and click on the women's basketball tab.
