Bucs Suffer 69-46 Setback Monday at Samford

Clark leads ETSU with 13 points and seven rebounds

Buccaneer.289.1245.KThe ETSU women’s basketball team was defeated 69-46 by the Samford Bulldogs on Monday evening inside the Pete Hanna Center.

With the loss, ETSU splits the season series against Samford and drops to 19-9 overall and 11-2 in Southern Conference action. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs improve to 15-13 overall and 8-5 in SoCon play.

The Bucs looked to push the tempo early and jumped out to an 8-2 lead over the first five and a half minutes of the opening period. Aided by ETSU turnovers, SU manufactured a 20-4 run including a three-pointer at the 11:08 mark to take its first lead of the game, 11-8, and capped by another triple to pull ahead by 10, 22-12, with 7:19 to go in the half. The Bucs countered with an 11-2 rally to bring the score to 24-23 with 1:46left in the period. In the final seconds of the half, a Blue & Gold turnover led to an intentional foul on the subsequent fast break. After making one of two free throws, the Bulldogs drilled a three pointer at the buzzer to increase what appeared to be a one-point ETSU deficit at the half to seven points, 30-23.

The home team surged out of halftime, at one point knocking down eight of nine shots from the field. Conversely, the Bucs had trouble getting anything going on offense including multiple stretches without a score. A 9-2 SU burst from the 14:41 to 13:10 marks to bring the score to 49-29 essentially put the game away as the home team stayed in front by 20 points or more for the duration of the contest.

ETSU had nine players reach the scoring column, led by 13 points – as well as a team-best seven rebounds – from senior forward Serena Clark (Stone Mountain, Ga.). Samford had guard Hannah Nichols with a game-high 19 points and center Taylor Reece with 13 points.

The Blue & Gold shot the ball at a 39-percent clip from the field for the game, but failed to knock down a three-pointer in 11 tries. ETSU was most effective in the paint where it scored 26 points and grabbed 30 total rebounds. The Bucs also dished out nine assists and got 15 points from their bench.

Meanwhile, Samford shot the ball at a 46-percent rate for the game including 54 percent in the second half. The Bulldogs also turned the visitors over 14 times resulting in 19 points and converted eight offensive rebounds into 15 second-chance points. Additionally, SU got 22 points from its bench and knocked down 11-of-12 free throws.

The Bucs will end regular season play with a trip to Chattanooga, Tennessee to take on the No. 18 and SoCon first-place Chattanooga Mocs onSaturday, Feb. 28, at 2 p.m. inside McKenzie Arena.

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Source: Clark leads ETSU with 13 points and seven rebounds