lady bisons end season in a-sun semifinals

atlantic sun press release | 03/07/2008

nashville, tenn. - east tennessee state scored 45 points off 31 lipscomb turnovers in a convincing 84-64 victory on friday afternoon to advance to the final of the 2008 general shale brick atlantic sun championships, where they will face the second-seeded jacksonville dolphins.

michele devault led the lady bucs with 23 points.<br><i>photo courtesy of asunphotos</i>

michele devault led the lady bucs with 23 points.
photo courtesy of asunphotos

the 20-point difference in the final score is the largest margin of victory in an a-sun tournament game for the lady bucs (20-11), and the worst defeat for the lady bisons. etsu has eliminated lipscomb in the a-sun tournament the past two seasons and has won five in a row against the lady bisons overall.

the top three-point shooter in the a-sun, etsu's michelle devault, made good on 5-of-11 from distance to come within one of tying a career-high. she led the charge for the lady bucs with a game-high 23 on 8-of-16 shooting. latisha belcher went 7-of-10 from the field for 17 points, and led the defense with six of the team's 19 steals.

lipscomb's jilian partin came up one rebound shy of a double-double with 17 points and nine boards to lead the lady bisons. katie rollins also had a solid performance, putting up 13 points and pulling down eight rebounds. lipscomb has lost five-straight to etsu overall, with their last victory coming on feb. 3, 2007.

trailing by eight early in the second half, catie woods knocked down one of her four three-pointers on the night to bring lipscomb within five, 43-38. that was as close as the lady bisons (10-22) would come. for the next six minutes etsu went on a 20-4 run that put the game out of reach.

the championship game of the a-sun tournament will be held on saturday at 1:00 p.m. ct. this will be first time in six years that the top-two seeds will face one another in the final.