Box Score MACON, Ga. - East Tennessee State women's basketball (16-12, 9-4 SoCon) upended the Mercer Bears (16-12, 6-7 SoCon) 58-51 on Thursday evening. ETSU advances to 9-4 in Southern Conference play, reaching nine wins for the second time under head coach Brenda Mock Brown. 

The Bucs have won nine of the last 10 outings and are one step closer to a piece of the Southern Conference Regular Season title. With one game remaining for all in the league, should Chattanooga and Wofford each be dealt one more loss paired with a Buccaneer win over Samford, there would be a three-way tie for the league title.  

NOTABLES

• Anala Nelson was the leading scorer for the Bucs, tallying 16 points, five rebounds, three assists and one steal. The graduate guard went 10-12 from the line, reaching double-digit free throws made for the second time this season, delivering eight of the 10 in the final frame to push the squad to victory.  Nelson has now tallied 287 made free throws in her four-year career and currently sits at 968 points, just 32 from 1,000 career.
• Daniela Lopez, the junior guard, reached double-digit points for the ninth time this season and for the second consecutive contest with her 15 points.  Lopez went 6-13 from the field and 3-6 from beyond the arc with five rebounds, four assists and one steal.  She dominated in the opening frame with 10 points and two rebounds with two made threes to be the ignition for scoring.  
• Sophomore forward Kennedy Younkin collected a career-high two blocks alongside her seven rebounds, five points and one steal.
• Carmen Richardson, the sophomore guard, followed Nelson and Lopez's efforts with four assists, eight points, one steal and one rebound.  Richardson went 2-6 from beyond the arc, registering at least two made threes for the sixth time this season.
• Eight of the 10 members of the squad to see action in the contest recorded multiple points and nine of 10 collected one or more rebounds.  
• Eight of nine individuals to see action in the second quarter recorded at least two points apiece to contribute to ETSU's 20 point frame for the hearty advantage headed into the half.
• The team totaled 58 points, 38 rebounds, 12 assists, four steals and two blocks, outscoring Mercer 26-14 in the paint and 13-8 on fast breaks.  

UP NEXT
ETSU will face Samford in Birmingham, Alabama in the Pete Hanna Center on Saturday, February 28 at 3 p.m. ET for the regular season finale.