ETSU Defeats Mercer to Advance to Championship Game
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Three different Buccaneers recorded a double-double and ETSU held off Mercer, 66-56, in the second semifinal game of the 2015 Southern Conference Women’s Championship, presented by General Shale. The win moves the Buccaneers to 21-10 and advances ETSU to Sunday’s championship game, where it will face top-seeded Chattanooga. The loss ends Mercer’s season at 18-14.
ETSU was led by Destiny Mitchell with 16 points and 11 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the year, while Serena Clark added 15 points and 11 rebounds for her 10th double-double of the season. Tianna Tarter also added 15 points and a team-high 15 rebounds for her second double-double of the year.
Southern Conference Player of the Year Precious Bridges led Mercer with 24 points, while SoCon Freshman of the Year Kahlia Lawrence added 10. Teanna Robinson added a team-high 12 rebounds.
Mercer opened the scoring with a jumper by Bridges, but both teams were scoreless for the next 3:19 until three by Shamauria Bridges gave ETSU a 3-2 lead with 15:53 remaining. A layup by Mitchell then upped ETSU’s lead to 5-2 heading into the first media timeout of the game.
Out of the timeout, ETSU continued to pressure Mercer, holding the Bears scoreless for a total of 5:16, before two free throws by Bridges ended the Mercer scoring drought with 14:13 remaining. A three-point play by Briana Williams tied the game at seven with 13:17 left in the half, until ETSU used a free throw from Maria Bond to regain the lead at 8-7. An up-and-under layup by Robinson on the other end gave Mercer its second lead of the game at 9-8 heading into the under-12:00 media timeout.
A jumper by Bridges gave Mercer its largest lead of the day at 11-8, but a layup by Bond cut the lead back to one with 10:07 remaining. The teams traded baskets until a three-point play by Tarter gave a two-point lead back to ETSU at 15-13 with 8:04 remaining. A fast-break layup by Clark gave the Buccaneers their largest lead of the half at 17-13 heading into the under-8:00 timeout.
Out of the timeout, a three by Mitchell pushed the ETSU lead to seven at 20-13, before the teams traded baskets and Tarter made a fast-break layup to open a nine-point lead for ETSU at 26-17, heading into the final media timeout of the half.
A three by Bond gave ETSU a ten-point lead at 29-19 with 2:16 remaining in the half, and two free throws by Mitchell pushed the lead to 12 at 31-19, before a buzzer-beating jumper by Bridges cut the lead to ten at 31-21 heading into halftime.
The teams traded baskets to open the second half, before a layup by Lawrence cut the lead to eight at 33-25 with 18:32 remaining, and two free throws by Precious Bridges cut the lead to six. A jumper by Bridges, followed by a bucket from Destiny Mitchell quickly pushed the ETSU lead back to ten at 37-27 heading into the first media timeout of the half.
Out of the timeout, two free throws by Tarter pushed the ETSU lead to 12, but a steal and fast break layup by Lawrence cut it back to 10. Back-to-back baskets by Mercer cut the ETSU lead to eight at 41-33 with 13:05 left in the half. Both teams were held scoreless until a three by Tarter gave the Buccaneers the 44-33 lead heading into the under-12:00 media timeout.
A jumper by Bridges ended a 3:15 scoring drought for Mercer, cutting the ETSU lead back to single-digits at nine, but a layup on the other end by Bond pushed it back to 11. The teams traded baskets until another jumper by Lawrence again cut the lead to nine with 7:34 remaining.
With 6:41 remaining, Bridges completed a three-point play to draw Mercer as close as it had been since 6:36 remaining in the first half, cutting the ETSU lead to six at 48-42. Two free throws from Mitchell stretched the Buccaneer lead back to eight with 5:23 remaining, before a drive to the basket by Clark gave ETSU the double-digit lead back. The teams traded buckets until a jumper by Bridges cut ETSU’s lead to 54-46 before the final media timeout of the game.
Bridges completed the three-point play out of the timeout to cut the lead to seven, but two free throws by Chandler Christopher, followed by a three from Tarter put the game out of reach for Mercer, giving ETSU a 12-point lead with two minutes remaining.
Mercer outscored ETSU 9-7 over the game’s final two minutes, but the Buccaneers held on for the 66-56 semifinal victory.
Chattanooga Advances to Championship Game
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Behind a career-high 26 points from Jasmine Joyner, top-seeded Chattanooga defeated fifth-seeded Furman, 68-55, in the first semifinal game of the 2015 Southern Conference Women’s Championship, presented by General Shale. The win moves No. 17/18 Chattanooga to 28-3 and puts the Mocs in the tournament-championship game for the third-straight season. The loss ended Furman’s season at 19-14.
Along with her game-high 26 points, Joyner also added 20 rebounds to cap off her eighth double-double of the season. Kieana Gilbert and Ka’Vonne towns each added 11 points for Chattanooga, while Alicia Payned dished out a team-high-tying three assists with three steals.
Furman was led by senior Brittany Hodges, who tallied 21 points and 10 rebounds for her league-leading 12th double-double of the year. After tying a tournament record with 10 three-pointers against Chattanooga, Whitney Bunn added 18 points for Furman, including three threes. Senior Sarah Durdaller was the Paladins’ other double-digit scorer with ten.
Neither team started off strong on the offensive end, combining for just six points heading into the first media timeout. After Sarah Durdaller scored the first basket of the game, the Mocs’ nationally-ranked defense held the Paladins without a bucket for the next 6:15, while increasing their lead to 11-2, forcing a Furman timeout with 13:17 remaining in the half.
Out of the timeout, a layup by Brittany Hodges got the Paladins back on the board, but Jasmine Joyner continued to be strong on the offensive end, pushing the lead to 10 with a three-point play. Another Hodges layup cut the lead to eight heading into the under-12:00 media timeout.
Chattanooga continued to be strong on defense, holding Furman to another scoring drought, this time of 3:06, before Hodges fought for a rebound and a layup, cutting the Mocs’ lead in half at 16-8. Whitney Bunn drained a three, her eighth of the tournament, to cut the lead to five with 8:16 remaining, but Alicia Payne countered with a layup to push it back to seven heading into the under-8:00 timeout.
The Mocs’ kept the pressure on Furman on defense, limiting Furman to two free throws in the next 2:30, while upping the lead to 12 with 4:27 remaining. A hard-fought layup by Bunn cut the lead to 10, but a jumper from Ka’Vonne Towns gave Chattanooga a 27-16 lead heading into the final media timeout of the half.
Furman used a free throw and layup from Sarah Durdaller to cut the lead to nine with 3:08 left in the half, but back-to-back baskets from Chattanooga pushed the lead to 13 with one minute remaining. A Durdaller free throw, followed by a layup from Keiana Gilbert gave Chattanooga the 33-19 lead. Chattanooga held Furman to just seven field goals in the half, while Joyner recorded her eighth double-double of the season (second of the tournament) in the first half.
The Mocs kept up the pressure on the defensive end in the second half, forcing back-to-back shot clock violations while grabbing their largest lead of the game at 20 heading into the first media timeout of the half.
Out of the timeout, two free throws by Sarah Durdaller cut the lead to 18, but Chattanooga pushed the lead back to 20, before Furman forced back-to-back turnovers and cut the lead to 16 with 13:22 remaining. The teams then traded baskets before Chattanooga pushed the lead back to 19 heading into the under-12:00 timeout.
Trailing 48-31 after the timeout, Furman then turned up the defensive pressure, forcing a shot clock violation that led to a three by Whitney Bunn to cut the Chattanooga lead to 48-34 with 10:40 remaining. A free throw by Hodges cut the lead to 13, before the teams traded baskets until a quick 4-0 run by Chattanooga pushed the lead back to 17 heading into the under-8:00 timeout.
Furman out-scored Chattanooga 18-14 over the game’s final 7:45, but the Mocs stymied the Paladin comeback, wining 68-55 to advance to Sunday’s championship game.