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3/6/2010 -
Back-to-Back-to-Back NCAA Trips for Lady Bucs
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Box ScoreMACON, Ga. – Senior forward TaRonda Wiles scored the winning layup to lead ETSU the win in the 2010 General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Women’s Basketball Championship game with a narrow 63-62 defeat of UNF.
Senior Siarre Evans led the Lady Buccaneers with 20 points and 11 rebounds recording her 21st double-double of the season. Wiles and Tarita Gordon each accumulated 14 points each in the victory, and combined for a total of 13 rebounds. For the Ospreys, sophomore guard Brittany Kirkland tallied 15 points, while senior Juliemay Syquio picked up 13 points and eight rebounds. Senior forward Arlande Cherizol and freshman guard Jadhken Kerr also posted double-digit scoring efforts with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
With the win, ETSU earned the Atlantic Sun’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. ETSU won its ninth consecutive A-Sun Championship game, and the Lady Bucs join Georgia State (2001-03) and FIU (1992-95) as the only schools in A-Sun history to win three straight titles. ETSU also become the first team since Georgia State (2000-2003) to make four consecutive title games.
UNF rallied from 16 down in the first half, to hold a second-half lead until a Wiles’ runner ended the Ospreys’ hopes of a tournament championship. UNF outscored ETSU, 20-32, in the second-half, but 16-fastbreak points for the Lady Bucs’ doomed the Ospreys’ chances of the No. 1 seed upset.
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The Atlantic Sun Conference is an 11-member league committed to Building Winners for Life. The A-Sun stands for achievement with integrity in both the academic and athletic arenas, with a focus on the balance between the two for our student-athletes. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun boasts six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun includes a blend of the most prestigious and dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.
All-Tournament Team
Siarre Evans – ETSU - Most Valuable Player
Tarita Gordon – ETSU
TaRonda Wiles – ETSU
Haley Nelson – Belmont
Juliemay Syquio – UNF
Brittany Kirkland – UNF
A-SUN CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES
* ETSU wins its 9th straight A-Sun Championship game. The Lady Bucs join Georgia State (2001-03) and Florida International (1992-95) as the only schools in A-Sun history to win three straight titles.
* ETSU’s win gives top seeds 15 A-Sun Tournament titles in the 24 years of the event, including each of the last four.
* ETSU’s victory represents the first women’s title game decided by a single point since 2002 when Georgia State defeated FAU, 64-63.
ETSU
* ETSU win stands as their 23rd of the season, setting a single-season record and their 10th consecutive victory, also a school record.
* TaRonda Wiles, who made the game-winning basket, tallied her fourth double-double of the year with 14 points and 10 rebounds – her first since Jan. 23 at Belmont (20 pts, 10 rebs).
* Evans finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds, her 21th double-double of the season and the 54th of her career. In her last five A-Sun Championship games (the 2009 and 2010 events), Evans has five double-doubles, averaging 19.2 ppg and 11.6 rebounds.
* Evans, the Tournament MVP becomes only the 4th in A-Sun Championship history to win multiple MVP awards joining Georgia State’s Evita Rogers (2002, 2003), FIU’s Andrea Nagy (1992-95) and Georgia Southern’s Phylette Blake (1987-89). * The Buccaneers lead the all-time series with the Ospreys by a 9-1 count.
UNF
* UNF, who already became the lowest seed to make and A-Sun Women’s title game, nearly became the lowest seed to win the A-Sun Championship (Sixth-seeded UCF defeated FAU in 1996).
* Arlande Cherizol recorded her third double-double of season with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
* Brittany Kirkland handed out 7 assists for the second straight game, one off her career high of eight set against Stetson on Jan. 9.
