Two days after defeating Mercer, the women’s basketball team ventured further west to Homewood, Alabama, where they suffered a 68-34 loss to the Samford Bulldogs. The women now rank 7-14 on the season with 2-4 in SoCon credits.
Junior Micah Scheetz (Knoxville, Tennessee) led the team in point scoring for her 20th straight game so far this season by adding 10 points to the board throughout the game. Junior Tijuana Kimbro (Memphis, Tennessee) led the women with 10 rebounds. Following closely on the heels of Sheetz in terms of scoring was sophomore E’Lease Stafford (Lawrence, Kansas) whose seven points were all scored throughout the first half. Sophomore Kaia Upton (Nashville, Tennessee) obtained six points and five rebounds.
The Blue and Gold shot 15-57 (26.3%) from the field and 1-17 (5.9%) from behind the arc. The team made a season low of three assists and grabbed 40 rebounds.
Both teams struggled with their offense during the early stages of the first quarter. Thanks to Sheetz, ETSU was up to a 7-5 lead right before the three minute mark. ETSU had great defense during this time, with only two of the 12 attempts from Samford to make it into the basket. By the end of the quarter the score was in favor of the Bulldogs 8-7
The Blue and Gold began the second half and quickly called a timeout after a 7-0 run by the Bulldogs sent the score to 15-7. The Bucs eventually regained momentum, leaving the score 29-20 by the buzzer for halftime.
ETSU struggled to get their offense up in the third quarter. Just as Scheetz scored the first bucket for the Bucs, the Bulldogs capitalized with back-to-back threes. Samford went on an 11-2 run with Scheetz making both baskets for the Bucs.
The Bulldogs all but claimed the game by the end of the third quarter with the score totaling 50-27.
The Bucs were unable to regain their footing in the fourth and lost the game 68-34.
The Bucs return to Brooks Gym on Feb. 1, where they will play Chattanooga. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.
