In an exhibition game at Memorial Center Wednesday night, the ETSU women’s basketball team dominated Mars Hill from start to finish never letting the Lady Lions control the game.
With a starting lineup of B.J. Banjo (Senior), Candace Gibson (Senior), Jenny Norman (Sophomore), Nichelle Akers (Sophomore) and Adaeze Azubuike (Freshman), the Lady Bucs went on to score 46 points in the first half giving them a 14-point lead over Mars Hill at halftime.
No shots were made for the first two minutes of the second half, but Candace Gibson broke the stalemate by shooting two points for the Lady Bucs. Kristi Ferris of Mars Hill challenged her opponents by scoring 21 points of her own, but this did not deter ETSU.
Key Bucs players including Banjo, Gibson and Norman forged ahead to maintain the lead with 51 points between them.
Alisha Holmes, Bucs’ point guard, also contributed with six assists, setting up Banjo for some completed shots.
“Alisha did a real good job today handling that so I’m really happy she did well,” Banjo said.
Banjo, standing 5’5″, racked up a total of 27 points in the game. During the second half she sank two three-pointers and scored a shot on a drive through the lane all in 57 seconds.
She said she is looking forward to the upcoming season. Her expectations include winning the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship.
“We have a real good team with a lot of hard-working people,” Banjo said. “I know that we’re just going to be really successful this year.”
Norman, who did not get much playing time last season, said she’s ready to step up and take on new experiences. She contributed 13 points and one steal for the Lady Bucs in Wednesday night’s game.
Norman said in order to be more prepared for the upcoming season the team needs to work on rebounding and defense. “This game gave us a chance to point out the stuff we need to work on,” she said.
The Lady Bucs welcomed three newcomers to the 2005-2006 team, Azubuike, Farren Stackhouse and Sharnae Hunt. Azubuike was the only one to get game time, scoring six points in her 27 minutes on the court. She had four assists and one steal.
She said she’s happy to help her teammates out, but she doesn’t want to play the role of a freshman trying to show off what she can do.
“I’m not very worried about how many points I score. I’m just kind of trying to help the team in any way I can, mostly defensively,” Azubuike said.
Coach Karen Kemp seemed pleased with the team’s first win, but she said they have a lot to work on. “We’ve got to go back to day one and refocus on our defense and try to get better,” Kemp said. “We played hard for the most part, but we cannot allow our opponents to shoot 50-plus percent.”
While Nov. 29 marks their first home game where they will host Eastern Kentucky, the Lady Bucs’ first game is Nov. 20 at Mississippi State followed by a Nov. 23 game at Cincinnati.

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