ETSU honored Tiffany Mayes before Monday night’s game against College of Charleston for surpassing 1,000 points in her career as a Lady Buc. However, the Lady Cougars refused to allow Mayes any easy baskets, and the rest of the Lady Bucs never found an offensive rhythm as Charleston claimed a 51-48 Southern Conference victory Monday night.
While ETSU struggled to score in the first half, Charleston was having just as much trouble despite holding a 16-15 lead with four minutes remaining. However, the Lady Cougars closed at the half with an 8-3 run, including two three-pointers by Marketta Talley, to take an eight-point lead to halftime, 26-18.
After the break, ETSU made certain that Mayes would become more involved offensively, as she scored eight of the Lady Bucs’ first 10 points of the second half. Despite Mayes’ efforts, Charleston still held a 34-28 lead until ETSU put up six consecutive points to tie the score with 12 minutes remaining.
Kelly Turman gave the Lady Bucs a spark off the bench during the run, scoring six of her eight points for the game.
“Kelly had a great game last time out,” said ETSU coach Karen Kemp. “She is a positive force for us on the offensive end right now.”
Continued troubles offensively for ETSU allowed Charleston to regain a six-point lead, 47-41. However, the Lady Bucs fought back defensively and rattled off seven unanswered points, capped by a B.J. Banjo three pointer, to take a 48-47 lead with two minutes remaining. Banjo led ETSU in scoring with a game-high 18 points.
“I have been pleased with our defensive effort all year,” Kemp said. “I am a believer that defense wins basketball games, but you have to put the ball in the hole, too.”
Talley, who finished the game with 14 points, gave the Cougars the lead again with a jumper at the one-minute mark. After ETSU failed to answer, Ericka Smith pushed the lead to three with a bucket with 6.5 seconds remaining.
The Lady Bucs elected not to use a timeout, and Banjo sprinted downcourt to get a look at a last-second prayer that fell short as time expired.
Mayes, who is the 13th Lady Buc to score 1,000 career points, managed 12 points on the game despite the concentrated defensive effort of the Cougars.
“We need to knock down some outside shots to give Tiffani and our other post players some open looks,” Kemp said.
The loss drops the Lady Bucs to 8-12 overall, 6-7 in Southern Conference action.

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