SPARTANBURG, S.C. – ETSU junior guard Tianna Tarter has been named the Southern Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for games played Jan. 24-30, the conference announced Tuesday.

Tarter averaged a league-best 31.0 points, shot 65.6 percent from the field and logged back-to-back 40-minute games in a pair of road wins for the Bucs last week over Furman and Wofford. The junior guard also averaged 8.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 2.0 steals and sunk 17 of her 20 free-throw attempts to shoot 85 percent from the charity stripe.

In the Bucs’ 74-64 win at Furman on Thursday, Tarter recorded her second straight double-double, tallying 33 points and 12 rebounds. She shot 10-for-14 (71.4 percent) from the field and 12-of-15 (80.0 percent) from the free-throw line to post the third most free-throws made in a single game in program history.

In the Bucs’ final visit to BenJo Arena on Saturday, Tarter spearheaded a historic 20-point comeback after the Bucs trailed 35-15 with 7:15 remaining in the second quarter. The junior guard logged 29 points, 21 of which came in the second half, in addition to five rebounds, seven assists and two steals to lead the Bucs to a 77-69 victory. The comeback win at Wofford gave ETSU its fourth consecutive of win, all four of which were against conference opponents.

The Johnson City, Tenn., native currently leads the SoCon in both scoring (19.8 ppg), minutes played (36.3 mpg), and has recorded a season-high four 30-point performances and 11 20-point performances. Tarter also currently ranks second in the league in assists (5.1 apg) and steals (2.3 spg), and fifth in field goal percentage (45.7 percent).

ETSU (13-9, 5-2 SoCon) returns home for two pivotal SoCon games this week as the Bucs host Samford (9-13, 2-5 SoCon) on Thursday, Feb. 2 at 11 a.m. for Education Day, followed by Mercer (17-4, 6-1 SoCon) on Saturday, Jan. 4 with tip-off schedule for 2 p.m.

Other top performers in the Southern Conference included: Whitney Bunn (Furman), Sydni Means (Mercer), Shanese Harris (UNCG), Katie Allen (Samford), Sherae Bonner (Chattanooga) and Chloe Wanink (Wofford).

SoCon Women’s Basketball Players of the Week

Nov. 15 – Sherae Bonner, Western Carolina

Nov. 22 – Kahlia Lawrence, Mercer

Nov. 29 – Tianna Tarter, ETSU

Dec. 6 – Tianna Tarter, ETSU

Dec. 13 – Tianna Tarter, ETSU

Dec. 20 – Chloe Wanink, Wofford

Jan. 3 – Tianna Tarter, ETSU

Jan. 10 – Jasmine Joyner, Chattanooga

Jan. 17 – Kahlia Lawrence, Mercer

Jan. 24 – Shamauria Bridges, ETSU

Jan 31 – Tianna Tarter, ETSU

- www.SoConSports.com -