ASHEVILLE, N.C. (Dec. 17, 2024) – East Tennessee State University women's basketball held on to take a 53-47 win at UNC Asheville on Tuesday.

Freshman guard Carmen Richardson set a career high with 16 points and six rebounds. 5th year guard Courtney Moore also added 16, and junior forward Meghan Downing scored seven with ten rebounds.

The Bulldogs opened with a strong first quarter on both ends of the floor. ETSU shot just 1-for-10 from 3-point range in the frame, while UNC Asheville went 2-for-6 from deep to take a 12-11 lead into the first break.

ETSU amped up its defensive intensity in the second. The Bucs held the Bulldogs to just four points and forced five turnovers to tie the best defensive quarter of the season the Blue & Gold have posted, as the Bucs also held Gardner-Webb to a four point frame.

Moore hit her third 3-pointer of the game with  4:18 to go for her 177th career triple. The make puts her at third all-time in ETSU women's basketball history.

UNC Asheville bounced back with its best frame of the game in the third, scoring 17 on an efficient 7-for-15 from the field to draw within four heading into the fourth quarter.

The first five minutes of the fourth quarter was short on offense, with the Bulldogs drawing a single point closer to 40-37 at the final media timeout. UNC Asheville kept fighting from there, drawing as close as 42-41 with 3:13 to play. Richardson hit her final basket of the night to put the Bucs back up by three before Moore took command of the court, hitting her fourth three of the night and a layup on consecutive possessions.

Senior guard Kendall Folley and 5th year forward Isabella Hunt each hit a pair of free throws in the waning seconds to seal the win for ETSU in assistant coach Honey Brown's first return to Kimmel Arena on the visiting bench, and in the second trip back for ETSU head coach Brenda Mock Brown. Mock Brown is now 3-0 against her former team.

Next, the Bucs head to the FGCU Holiday Tournament to face IU Indy at 1 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 20.

For more information on Buccaneer women's basketball, follow @ETSU_WBB on X (Twitter) and Instagram, and visit ETSUBucs.com.