The women’s basketball team faced off against the Furman Paladins over the weekend. It was the last home game of the regular season and also Senior Day. The Bucs team and fans celebrated seniors Tianna Tarter (Johnson City, Tennessee), Malloree Schurr (Montgomery, Texas) and Shy Copney (Johnson City, Tennessee).
The Bucs came out with a successful senior day win over Furman 56-46. It was a good matchup against two teams coming off three wins in a row. With this being the last home game of the season, the Bucs improve 17-10 and 10-3 in conference play.
The first quarter was a back and forth exchange between the Bucs and Paladins. Furman scored first, but the Bucs gained their first lead 6-4 in the first three minutes of play. Both defenses played extremely well, ending the first quarter tied at 10.
The Bucs picked up the pace in the second quarter by scoring 18 points and giving up 4. The Bucs had momentum, ending halftime with a score of 28 to 14, only one point shy of their largest lead of the game, which was at 15 points.
The third quarter began with Furman slowly coming back from behind. The Bucs had a 39-32 lead and would remain scoreless in the last six minutes of the quarter. The Bucs would hold on to the lead at the end of the third quarter with a score of 39-37.
The fourth quarter was a back and forth battle between the two teams with the Bucs gaining the win at 56-46.
Freshman Erica Haynes-Overton (Nashville, Tennessee) led the team with 19 points. Behind her was senior Tianna Tarter (Johnson City, Tennessee) who scored 10 points and set a record for 422 free throws in a season.
“Today is an emotional day,” Tarter said. “We came out slow, but we picked up it up in the second half.”
Head Coach Brittney Ezell is now one win away from 200 wins as head coach.
“It’s an emotional day,” said Ezell, as she says goodbye to her seniors and wishes them good luck in their future.
As for the game, Ezell said, “I thought we started the game wonderfully well.”
The Bucs celebrated senior day with a big win, and they will finish off the regular seasons with two more games against Samford and Mercer.
