Wednesday, March 02, 2011

MACON, Ga. – Top-seeded ETSU started off the women’s portion of the General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Conference basketball championships with an 83-75 win over No. 8 seed Lipscomb University. The Lady Bucs improved to 19-11 overall, while the Lady Bisons’ season closes at 9-21.

ETSU’s Gwen Washington and Tara Davis provided a potent 1-2 punch. Washington came off the bench to tally a game-leading 24 points, with Davis close behind with 23 points of her own. The duo led a quartet of Lady Bucs in double-digit scoring, along with Shawn Randall (12) and Natalie Pickwell (11).

The Lady Bisons also had four players score in double figures, paced by 18 from both starting guard Jenna Bartsokas, who added a game-high five assists, and reserve Anna Bowers. Valerie Bronson and Hannah Phillips scored 15 and 14 points, respectively.

Lipscomb held a 35-33 advantage at the half, thanks largely to forcing ETSU into nine turnovers the opening stanza. There were two ties and 10 lead changes in the first segment, with the largest lead being a seven-point advantage by ETSU. But the Lady Bucs regrouped in the second stanza and turned up the pressure. ETSU outscored the Lady Bisons by 10 points and pressured Lipscomb into 13 of its 21 turnovers in the final period.

The Lady Bucs will play the winner of Thursday’s game between No. 4 UNF and No. 5 Jacksonville in the semifinal round on Friday at noon.

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