ETSU’s 2004 women’s basketball is ready to go. The Lady Bucs will open the season with a two-day, two-game series in middle Tennessee on Nov. 19-20.
The Lady Bucs will first play at Tennessee Tech before heading to Nashville and playing the ladies of Tennessee State. The women then have their home opener at the Nov. 23 against Tusculum College.
When the women take the court, though, there will be some new faces to accompany the old. Leading the team again will be Tiffani Mayes playing forward.
The women’s basketball season will include many tough conference and non-conference games. Among those non-conference games will be both Temple and Mississippi State, and don’t forget our game at Old Dominion. “The whole year will be great,” said ETSU coach Karen Kemp.
The Lady Bucs are looking forward to making this season a great success after last season’s 13-14 overall and 13-8 in the SoCon. The Lady Bucs are also looking to get some revenge on Elon, who end the Bucs’ season last year in the quarterfinals of the SoCon Tournament.
But what Kemp said she is most looking forward to is playing somebody not wearing a blue uniform, referring to the practice uniforms the women have been playing in.
“We always want a good non-conference schedule to help out with getting ready for the conference,” she said.
But what the Lady Bucs want most would be a win against UT Chattanooga. UTC has already been named on three preseason polls including 16th on the Smith and Street poll released earlier this month.
The big in-state rivalry rests on many things. Most importantly was the record the Mocs have each season. The Mocs have won the SoCon preseason polls for the fifth consecutive year. As with all good things it must end and this will be the last time the two teams will play, making a win even sweeter.
“Chattanooga is who everyone wants to beat,” Kemp said. “They are the team to beat.”
Mayes chipped in saying that she has been thinking a lot about them.
At the end of last season, the Bucs lost three key players. Jessica Lonon, Lauren Trantham and Kiya Verdell all led the core of the Lady Bucs last year before graduating. To lead the Bucs, Senior Mayes has stepped up as the leader.
She has already approved of the freshman class saying, “They are looking good and getting ready for the season, (but) it is hard to find a three-position player to replace our losses.”
Mayes comes in after a great junior year last season. During last season Tiffani was able to finish second on the team in field goals made and free throws made along with playing 872 minutes played. Mayes was also voted on to the SoCon Coaches Preseason team, thanks to her conference leading scoring.
“Brooke Wilhoit, B.J. Banjo and Candace Gibson will give us a group with great experience heading into the fall,” Kemp said.
The coaches’ preseason poll picked the Lady Bucs to finish third in the SoCon after last season’s performance from the three, especially from Mayes’s rebounding and Southern Conference leading scoring efforts. UT Chattanogga was picked first, thanks to their four returning starters. While Furman received one first place vote to finish in second place, with coaches crediting the 11 players returning this season, including senior Jen Nadalin.

Author