The ETSU women’s basketball team, which ended its regular season with a 21-11 record, qualified to continue its season in the Women’s National Invitation Postseason Tournament starting at 7 p.m. on March 19 in Brooks Gym.

The Lady Bucs will be taking on the North Carolina Wolfpack.

“Regular season … I thought we were really consistent and that’s what we were focusing on all year,” head coach Brittney Ezell said.

“I thought we were tremendous at home, during the SoCon season our road record was phenomenal, with only two losses.”

Prior to the start of the WNIT, the Lady Bucs played well in the 2015 Southern Conference Women’s Basketball Championship Tournament.

They dominated both games before losing in overtime in the championship game against the Chattanooga Mocs.

In the tournament, rebounds and scoring in the post made a huge impact on the team’s overall performance.

Seniors Destiny Mitchell and Serena Clark were leading contributors to their team’s success.

In the last three games combined, Mitchell and Clark combined for 75 points.

“Our coaches told us, ‘When our post players get going, it gets the rest of the team going,’ ” Clark said. “So, they focus on getting the ball inside … we will be able to kick it out more on the outside with Shamauria Bridges (sophomore guard) knocking down those 3s.”

Points were not the only thing that had a massive impact as Mitchell and Clark brought in 56 rebounds together.

“It was the championship game, so I felt like we needed to do everything possible to help our team win,” Mitchell said. “Me and Serena usually rebound a lot, so we just continued that.”

This will be the first time the ETSU women’s basketball team has been invited to a non-conference postseason appearance since the 2009-10 season.

It will be playing against the North Carolina Wolfpack for the first time.

“We are going to have to continue to play together and move the ball,” Mitchell said. “Rebound especially, because that’s our strong point. When we are rebounding, we can’t be stopped!”

Tournament schedule:

Round 1: March 18-20

Round 2: March 21-24

Round 3: March 25-27

Quarterfinals: March 28-30

Semifinals: April 1-2

Championship: April 4

Author

  • Garrett Tumlin

    Garrett Tumlin is a senior majoring in journalism with a minor in sports management. He is vice president of ETSU’s Black Affairs Association and a leader for Quest. He is also a member of Fellowship of Christian Athletes. A Chattanooga native, Tumlin has always loved writing and sports and is excited to be an athletics writer for the East Tennessean. He also works for BucTV. More recently, Tumlin has started working at the Herald & Tribune in Jonesborough. He loves basketball and his favorite NBA team is the Celtics.

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