The rest of the season for Lady Buccaneer basketball is going to be about tactics. After losing their second straight game at home to Southern Conference leaders UT-Chattanooga 95-62 Saturday at Memorial Center, ETSU (8-10, 8-5 SoCon) will be waging a war for the precious second spot in the SoCon standings.
UTC (17-2, 12-0 SoCon) now extends their winning streak to 15 games, which ties them for the longest active winning streak in the country. Head Coach Wes Moore has been at the helm for six of the Lady Moccasins’ longest winning streaks.
“We have days like this when we shoot good and everything is going our way,” said Moore. “We were fortunate to shoot the ball well.”
Led by Katasha Brown with 22 points, the Mocs had six players in double figures while shooting 63 percent for the floor. The final shooting percentage was down from 73 percent in the first half of play.
“When you have somebody come into your place shooting 73 percent in one half, then 63 percent for the game, it’s going to be tough to win,” said ETSU Head Coach Karen Kemp.
“We knew they were a good team before we played. But we felt like we were really prepared. Right from the start, they took us out of our offensive game immediately and they got easy looks at the basket.”
After opening a sizeable 12-point lead in the first half, Kemp brought in freshman guard Holly Moring.
Moring lit up the scoreboard with 11 first half points, going 5-5 in field goals and eclipsing her career high of 10 points set in December. She finished with 17 points, leading the Lady Bucs in scoring.
“I tried to have my mind right and be as focused as possible,” said Moring of her performance coming off of the bench. “It felt pretty good to score 17 against UTC, but I would have liked to win.”
Moring is only the second freshman to play in every game this season besides Brooke Wilhoit. She hit seven of 12 in field goals and two three-pointers in 25 minutes of play.
Nationally ranked No. 31, Chattanooga was ruthless under the post, as they put a halt to Lauren Trantham’s inside game and shut down ETSU’s two leading scorers: Kiya Verdell and Tiffani Mayes.
Trantham, averaging six rebounds a game, was only able to pull down three as she was double-teamed by Tiffani Roberson and Nicole Mattison. She had no points but teammate Mayes had 14 in which she fought hard for.
“I don’t think we should have lost by this much,” said Mayes. “We missed some opportunities in the first half and let them get away from us in the second half.”
Chattanooga increased their ever-widening lead with 11-0 and 12-0 runs to hand the Bucs their fifth SoCon loss of the season.
“In no way does this loss take us out of the race,” said Kemp. “I believe whoever is in second place is going to have five or six losses. So we’re just going to have to bounce back from this loss and get ready for our next game at Charleston.”
Kemp has been missing Jessica Lonon who is off the bench after she sprained her ankle earlier this season at Wofford.
Before her injury, Lonon was coming off a season-high 16 points and seven rebounds against the College of Charleston earlier in the season.
“Not having Jessica has hurt us a lot,” said Kemp. “She gives us a lot of energy when she steps out on the floor. We have missed her the last couple of games. Hopefully by next weekend she is expected to be back.”
ETSU heads to down to South Carolina to the College of Charleston (3-9 SoCon) Monday. In their last meeting, on Jan. 5, ETSU won 81-51 in Johnson City.

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