Right before Spring Break, the ETSU women’s basketball team traveled to Asheville on March 2 to take a chance in the Southern Conference Tournament.
Playing Samford, the Bucs took a devastating 67-64 loss and missed the chance to advance further in the tournament. They were playing as the No. 3 seed in the tournament, with Samford as the No. 6 seed.
During the regular season, the Bucs beat Samford in both meetings in close contests.
Despite the short-run in the tournament, the Bucs made statements this season as a whole, as well as many athletes who achieved personal accomplishments.
Junior guard Tianna Tarter (Johnson City, Tenn.) scored a career-high 39 points in the tournament game against Samford.
This was Tarter’s sixth game this season where she had 30 or more points.
As far as Southern Conference records go, Tarter was just 6 points shy of breaking the all-time record for women’s points in a game in the SoCon.
This season, Tarter also become the first Buc in women’s basketball history to score more than 500 points in a season, collecting more than 150 rebounds and dish out more than 120 assists.
Tarter and teammate Shamauria Bridges (Miramar, Fla.) were named to First Team All-SoCon while fellow sophomore Raven Dean (Charlotte, N.C.) got a spot on the Third Team.
Bridges, as a senior, now holds the ETSU record for most three-pointers made in a season.
The Bucs finished the regular season 8-6 in the conference and 16-14 overall.
Major mistakes could be found in the Bucs having to play from behind in many games that resulted in a loss.
There were times, such as the rally on Senior Day against Furman University, where pulling away late got the job done, but throughout the season an initial lull in the game was not what the Bucs needed to happen.
Going into the summer and next season, the Bucs signed three players during the early signing period to join the team for the next season, but since then have not made any announcements about any more recruits.
Erica Haynes-Overton (Nashville, Tenn.) and Alayjah Sherer (Tupelo, Miss.) both coming in at the guard position and Britney Snowden (Pensacola, Fla.) in the forward position.
