The ETSU Lady Bucs made history last Saturday night in, of all places, Des Moines, Iowa. When the Lady Bucs took the floor at the Wells Fargo Center, one of the most successful seasons in the program’s history reached a historic milestone as the Lady Bucs squared off against Oklahoma State in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.“I’m very proud of my teammates, we did something that no other team has done before at East Tennessee State,” Michelle DeVault said in an NCAA interview. “We proved that we not only belonged in this tournament, but that we could play with the best and we hung in there with a really good team, so I’m really proud of my teammates.”
“It feels good just to make history and get into the history books,” TaRonda Wiles said at a postgame press conference. “We want to go farther next year.”
Wiles’ teammates echoed her thoughts of next year, and for good reason. While the Lady Bucs fell to Oklahoma State, the Lady Bucs finished what is arguably the best season in program history. In addition to the program’s first NCAA bid, the Lady Buccaneers tied a school record 21 wins, including winning 15 of their last 17 games, capturing both the regular season and tournament Atlantic Sun Conference championships. The Lady Bucs also scored 2,478 points, the most team points scored in a single season in program history. While they lose four talented seniors, DeVault, Jenny Norman, Nichelle Akers and Kelly Truman, the Lady Bucs return nine players including Siarre Evans, who was the team’s leading scorer and rebounder.
“To be apart of this team with such great chemistry, it felt like we should have gone farther in the tournament,” Latisha Belcher said. “But that will have to wait until next year.”
Oklahoma State coach Kurt Budke even praised the Lady Bucs in his postgame press conference for the heart and dedication they showed.
“Credit East Tennessee State, they outcoached and outplayed us tonight,” Budke said. “They believe in themselves and they believe they can play with anybody.”
While this season did not end like a fairy tale, the Lady Bucs have every intention of playing the part of Cinderella next season.
