The College of Charleston Lady Cougars outscored the Lady Bucs 49-29 in the first half and never looked back, defeating ETSU, 85-65, in the first round of the Mountain Dew Southern Conference Women’s Basketball Championships, last Thursday night from McAlister Field House in Charleston, S.C.
The Cougars (14-12, 8-10 SoCon) shot a blistering 59 percent from the floor in the first half. College of Charlston also shot 5-8 from three-point range in the first stanza while the Lady Bucs hit just 3-11 from long range.
“It is hard to expect to win when you allow your opponents to shoot 60 percent in the first half,” said ETSU head coach Karen Kemp, following the game.
The Lady Bucs (10-18, 5-14 SoCon) made several attempts at a comeback in the second half, but they could never cut the Cougar lead to fewer than 13. The last time came after an Ashley Reed three-pointer cut the lead to 72-59 with 4:38 remining.
“We wanted to get the lead under 10, but every time we would cut it to 13, they would hit a big shot,” Kemp said. “That is a little draining defensively.”
ETSU was led by junior forward Misty Copas, who scored 17 points on 7-for-10 from the floor. Senior guard Leslie Burleson played well, scoring 11 points and pulling down seven rebounds.
Sophomore forward Lauren Trantham led the Lady Bucs with eight rebounds.
College of Charleston was led by senior Becky Wollenberg, who scored 16 points. Brittney Scarberry (15), Rachel King (14), Shanna Mickens (12) and Jennifer Harper (10) also scored in double-digits for the Cougars.
“We felt like if we did what we needed to do defensively, we had an opportunity,” Kemp said. “Unfortunately, we came out on the short end tonight.

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