By From the Archives

Published: March 7, 2009

BY BRIAN T. SMITH
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – One trip to The Dance was not enough for the East Tennessee State University women’s basketball team. After the Buccaneers made the NCAA Tournament last season for the first time in the program’s history, ETSU is putting on its dancing shoes once again.
The No. 1 seed Bucs rallied from an eight-point halftime deficit to defeat the No. 2 seed Jacksonville Dolphins, 58-52, Saturday afternoon in the Atlantic Sun conference tournament championship at Allen Arena.
“We expect this out of ourselves. We expect to keep winning and winning,” said ETSU junior guard Siarre Evans, who pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds and poured in 12 points to lead the Bucs (20-10). Evans was named tournament most valuable player for her efforts.
Regina Omoite scored a team-high 10 points and earned all-tournament honors to lead the Dolphins (19-13), while four different Jacksonville players recorded six points.
ETSU will play an opponent yet to be determined in the NCAA Tournament. First-round games are scheduled for March 21 and 22 in multiple cities across the nation. The NCAA will announce tournament pairings at 7 p.m. March 16.
“We care who we play, but not to the point where we’re going to stress a lot,” Evans said. “Whoever we play, we’re going to go out there and compete our hardest.”
The Bucs earned their second consecutive NCAA Tournament berth despite not having a senior on the roster and losing five of their first six contests.
“The early losses we had strengthened us to get to this point,” said junior guard TaRonda Wiles, who added a game-high 15 points for ETSU and was selected to the A-Sun all-tournament team. “It let us know that we can play with bigger schools. … It gave us that extra fight. And not having any seniors just requires us to step up more.”
East Tennessee State coach Karen Kemp said a strong foundation was laid for the Bucs’ program a few years back, and that her team has been building upward since.
“Now we’re able to bring back another championship back to Johnson City and ETSU,” Kemp said.
The Bucs outrebounded Jacksonville 50-37, and ETSU shot 46.2 percent (12 of 26) in the second period to overcome a 28-23 halftime deficit. The Buccaneers rallied to outscore the Dolphins 35-24 after the break, and were aided by sophomore forward Shannon White’s 10 second-half points.
“We had to fight out there for 40 minutes,” Kemp said.
The Bucs held the Dolphins to 32.4 percent (22 of 68) shooting overall from the field and 25.7 percent in the second half.
“We are very disappointed with the loss,” Jacksonville coach Jill Dunn said. “I give ETSU credit. They came out of the second half really pounding the boards. They [took] us a little out of our game plan.”

Notes: The Bucs became the first A-Sun women’s team to successfully defend its title since Georgia State pulled off the feat in 2002 and 2003. … ETSU reached the 20-win mark for the third consecutive season. … Evans recorded her eighth double-double in her last nine contests and 18th overall this season.

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