The ETSU Lady Buccaneers put together an impressive second half comeback on Jan. 17 to secure an 87-56 victory over the University of North Carolina Greensboro Spartans. This win puts ETSU at 3-0 in the conference and sets up for an impressive run at the conference title.
In the first half the game stayed tight with both teams competing for the lead and UNCG getting the better of the Lady Bucs. With five minutes remaining, the score was 29-23 in favor of the visiting Spartans.
The game performance from both teams stayed the same, with the score leading into halftime giving UNCG the advantage by eight points.
Halftime ended and play resumed but there was something different about ETSU’s level of play and it became obvious to UNCG that they were going to have to step up too. The Lady Bucs put together a massive 38-7 surge to open up the second half.
“We all came together toward the end. The second half is always our half,” said Lady Buccaneer Shamauria Bridges.
Bridges led the team in points by tying her career high of 23 points. The Bucs overcame an eight point first half deficit and continued to score to take the lead and eventually end their run with the score 70-47 with six minutes still remaining in the competition.
The UNCG Spartans attempted to build a comeback but the Lady Bucs would not be denied, ending this conference game with a 22 point lead, the score reading 87-65.
The performance in the second half was an extremely good one and would have allowed ETSU to compete with some of the best teams in the conference. However, it is important to state that UNCG’s record for the season thus far is 5-13 and 0-3 in conference.
This game had potential to be one of the easier matches of conference play and as the second half commenced, it became obvious that it would be a fairly easy win. In future conference play against harder and less forgiving opponents, it may be hard to surpass a large first half deficit if ETSU is unable to really construct a solid, first half scoring drive.
For the moment however, ETSU can enjoy an excellent performance. All of the players who saw action for ETSU scored points at some point in the game.
“I was just thrilled,” said head coach Brittney Ezell. “There was an all-around effort from top to bottom and everybody contributed. They were ready to go when their number got called.”
With ETSU continuing conference play this weekend, a result like this can be a massive boost to confidence and carry them into this next match up with very high hopes.
“It feels good to be 3-0,” Ezell said.
