BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Feb. 10, 2024) – The ETSU women's basketball team got back into the win column on Saturday with a 69-56 victory at Samford. Saturday's win improves ETSU's record to 16-8 overall and 5-4 in SoCon play.
 
For the fourth straight game and the 12^th time this season, Nevaeh Brown led ETSU in scoring. Brown netted 20 points (6-for-10 from field) to go with seven rebounds. It is Brown's four 20-plus point outing of the 2023-24 campaign. Breanne Beatty chipped in nine points as did Kendall Folley off the bench. Samiah Puckett also provided some offense off the bench for the Bucs matching a career-high with six points.
 
The Bucs wasted little time in building a lead on Saturday. Capped by a pair of made free throws from Courtney Moore, ETSU scored nine of the first 11 points of the contest to put the homestanding Bulldogs in an early hole. Samford, however, would battle back to get within a point of the Bucs, 17-16, after one quarter of play.
 
The second quarter was where ETSU really separated itself from Samford. The Buccaneers connected on nine of their 10 shots from the field and went a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line. ETSU also dominated on the boards in the second out rebounding the Bulldogs 10-1. The Buccaneers would go on a 14-0 run in the second to build their advantage out to 17 points. Samford would break the Buccaneer run with a free throw in the final seconds, but ETSU still held a 16-point lead, 42-26, at the half.
 
As the second half began, ETSU was able to build its advantage out to 19 points, 47-28, with 7:48 to go in the stanza. However, Samford would put together its best scoring quarter of the game (17 points, 7-for-14 from the field) and cut the deficit to 12 points, 55-43, heading to the final frame.
 
After the Bucs briefly built their lead back to 15 with 5:41 to go, the Bulldogs went on a 7-0 run to get within single digits of the Bucs. Samford might have chipped away further at the deficit but an efficient 8-for-10 effort from the free throw line by the Bucs helped clinch the victory for ETSU, 69-56.
 
ETSU will open a three-game home stand next Saturday when it welcomes rival and league-leading Chattanooga to Brooks Gym. Tip-off between the Bucs and Mocs is set for 2 p.m.
 
For more information on Buccaneer women's basketball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the women's basketball tab.