The ETSU Lady Bucs returned home from a stinging rout at Atlantic Sun Conference leader Florida Gulf Coast. ETSU looked to bounce back and get a win against the North Florida, UNF, Osprey’s.The Ospreys had defeated ETSU on their home court and looked to keep ETSU from locking up the No. 1 seed for the A-Sun tournament. A strong showing from the Lady Bucs ended this dream, when ETSU cruised to a 74-52 win over UNF.

“When they beat us, you would have thought they had won the championship,” head coach Karen Kemp said. “The staff and team were jumping up and down, so when we won I told the girls to walk off, it’s nothing new for us to win.”

The Lady Bucs started strong on a 3-point shot by Natalie Pickwell that breezed through.

But a few minutes later the Lady Bucs would be reeling as freshman star Destiny Mitchell was injured. Mitchell would have to be carried off the court and was soon seen leaving courtside on crutches. ETSU looked shocked giving the Ospreys their first lead of the game but after exchanging leads, the Lady Bucs re-focused and started to run away with the game.

ETSU slowly but surely extended their lead, going into halftime leading 40-24.

The second half continued the dominance of ETSU as the Lady Bucs looked to show that the earlier lose to the Osperys was a fluke.

The Lady Bucs stretched their lead to 31 before UNF was able to mount a comeback. The Opsreys cut the score to 24 but the deficit was too much to overcome.

Pickwell was the star of the game for the Lady Bucs, as she finished with a career-high 24 points. “I was shooting and they kept falling,” Pickwell said.

Tara Davis and Gwen Washington scored 12 points and 10 points, respectively, and senior Latisha Belcher notched her ninth double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

“They came out cocky so I wanted to show them the business,” Belcher said after the victory.

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