By: by Jason Hanes
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - Angie Smith scored a career-high 26 points as the Kennesaw State women's basketball team fell, 86-61, to East Tennessee State in Atlantic Sun Conference action Saturday afternoon.
KSU head coach Colby Tilley has preached the importance of playing a full 40 minutes to his team. While the Lady Owls trailed by just three, 28-25, after the first 20 minutes, it would be the first five minutes of the second half that would decide the game. ETSU (12-9, 9-3) went on a 21-3 run over the that span, pushing its lead over 20 points - a deficit from which KSU could never recover.
The Lady Owls (6-13, 3-8) led by as many as five on two occasions in the first half. First, a fast-break bucket by Smith gave KSU the lead, 16-11. After an ETSU bucket, Christine Wyle drained a jumper to put KSU back up by five, 18-13, with just under 10 minutes to go in the opening period.
ETSU would take the lead, 24-20, but Smith answered back for KSU with five straight points to give KSU its final lead, 25-24.
The second half would be almost all ETSU as the Lady Bucs stretched their lead to as high as 31 in the late stages of the period. ETSU scored 57 points in the second half to pull away from KSU for the victory.
Tamasha Bolden earned a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Lady Owls. Sametria Gideon added nine points and six rebounds while Wylie had six points and a game-high three blocked shots.
Tara Davis scored 21 points for the Lady Bucs, while Destiny Mitchell had 17 points and 13 rebounds to convert the double-double. Gwen Washington added 12 points on the afternoon.
The Lady Owls will be back in action this Monday at USC Upstate. Tip-off is slated for 5 p.m.
