Box Score

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - In a low-scoring defensive battle, ETSU made the timely buckets to slide past Western Carolina women's basketball 51-40 Saturday in Freedom Hall.

The Catamounts fall to 9-16 on the season and 1-9 in the Southern Conference. ETSU improves to 17-8 and 9-1 in SoCon play.

It was a hotly contested nip and tuck game throughout the first half and most of the second. However, Western Carolina could never get a foothold, even when it enjoyed a lead, due to costly scoring droughts in both the first and second halves.

Western Carolina junior Erika Joseph hit a pair of free throws with 3:25 left to play to trim the ETSU lead to four, 42-38, and seemingly keep the game manageable for WCU. ETSU's Tianna Tarter hit the dagger shot for the Buccaneers when she sank a three-pointer, pushing the lead back to 45-38, and all but putting the game out of reach for WCU.

Trailing 23-19 at the half, Western Carolina had some solid scoring in the first 13 minutes of the second part of the game after weathering through a 31-23 ETSU lead with 13:40 left.

Junior guard Lindsay Simpson helped chip into the Buccaneer advantage hitting a pair of three pointers. Simpson's first three-pointer cut the ETSU lead to five, 31-26, and her second trey knotted the game at 31 with 11:49 left. Simpson's second tree-pointer in that span capped off an 8-0 run by WCU.

Western Carolina would take its final lead in the game when freshman guard Ace Easter hit a jumper, with 7:43 left, to give the Catamounts a tenuous 35-34 lead. ETSU's Shamauria Bridges quickly erased the Catamount lead when she calmly knocked down a three-pointer to give the lead back to the Buccaneers, 37-35. ETSU would never trail again.

The Catamounts and Buccaneers were in an all-out war to open the game. ETSU quickly took a 10-4 lead but WCU roared back going on a 11-0 run, capped off by a field goal by Justin Taylor, to go up 15-10 with 11:54 left in the first half. Cara Bowling's three-pointer halted the Catamount run and pulled the Buccaneers back within two, 15-13.

Over the next four minutes the game would be tied twice. Knotted at 17, with 7:37 left, neither team scored for over two minutes. Western Carolina had a chance to take the lead when freshman Emily Hatfield was fouled and went to the line with a 1-and-1 but missed the front end, with 6:08 left. It was one of three trips to the charity stripe in which WCU would miss the front end of the freebie shots.

ETSU's Maria Bond hit 1-of-2 free throws to end the scoreless streak giving ETSU an 18-17 lead with 5:48 left. ETSU parlayed that into a four point advantage when Adriane Vaughn hit a three-pointer putting the Bucs up 21-17.

Joseph's jumper, with 1:48 left in the half, was the first Catamount points in over nine minutes. The Joseph bucket cut the ETSU lead to two, 21-19. Bond hit a lay-up with 55 seconds left in the half to give ETSU a four point, 23-19, lead at the half. After scoring nine first-half points, Taylor was held scoreless in the second half. No one on Western Carolina's bench scored in double figures.

Western Carolina did win the rebounding battle 44-42 including grabbing 27 defensive boards. WCU shot 22 percent from the field and hit 13 field goals to ETSU's 35.4 percent and 17 field goals. The true measure of the game came from behind the three-point arch as ETSU nailed eight three-pointers to Western Carolina's two.

ETSU's Bridges led all scorers with 19 points. Destiny Mitchell ripped down 13 rebounds for the Buccaneers.

Western Carolina will return home Monday to host Southern Conference leading Chattanooga. Tip time is set for 7 p.m. in the Ramsey Center.