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ASHEVILLE, N.C. - No. 7 seed Western Carolina fell 73-53 to No. 2 seed ETSU in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference Championships Thursday in Kimmel Arena presented by General Shale.

The win moves ETSU to 20-10. The loss ends Western Carolina's season at 11-19.

Tianna Tarter led the Buccaneers with 14 points, while Maria Bond added 12 points and 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the season. Shamuria Bridges and Destiny Mitchell each also scored in double-figures with 12 and 10, respectively. The Buccaneers shot 50 percent for the game, including an impressive 64 percent in the second half.

Ace Easter led Western Carolina with 13 points, while Justin Taylor added 11 and a team-high four assists. Sherae Bonner added a team-high eight rebounds for Western Carolina.

The teams traded baskets early in the half, before ETSU used a 6-0 run to take a 13-5 lead and force Western Carolina to call a timeout. Out of the timeout, the Catamounts used a 6-0 run of their own to cut the lead to 13-11 heading into the under-12:00 media timeout. Western Carolina continued its offensive outburst after the timeout, grabbing a 17-13 lead, while also excelling on the defensive side of the ball, holding league-scoring leader ETSU without a basket over a period of 5:59.

A layup by Tianna Tarter ended the 12-2 ETSU scoring run, cutting the Western Lead to 17-15 with 8:04 remaining. After a jumper gave Western Carolina its biggest lead of the game at five, ETSU responded with five-straight points of its own to tie the game at 20 with 4:43 remaining in the half. The teams traded baskets out of the final media timeout of the half, with Western Carolina taking a 27-26 lead into halftime.

The teams again went back and forth to start off the second half, until ETSU grabbed its first lead since leading 13-11 in the first half, when a layup by Destiny Mitchell gave the Buccaneers a 38-37 lead with 12:46 remaining. After a free throw by

Ace Easter tied the game at 38, ETSU piled on the pressure, holding ETSU to one of its next six shots, while using a 12-3 run to take a 50-41 lead with 9:05 remaining.

The Buccaneers used a 23-12 run over the game's final nine minutes, capped off by a layup from Adrian Vaughan, to take the victory.