Cougars Edged by Bucs, 59-55 - CofCSports.com--Official Web site of College of Charleston Athletics

Wednesday, December 7

John Kresse Arena

7pm

College of Charleston

East Tennessee State

Cougars Edged by Bucs, 59-55 - CofCSports.com--Official Web site of College of Charleston Athletics

12/7/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

#articleRelated { display: none !important; } Freshman Nikki Williams netted her first career-double and Melissa Chambers scored in double-figures for the fifth time in six games to lead the College of Charleston women's basketball team back from a 13-point deficit in the first half, only to fall just short in the final minutes, 59-55, to East Tennessee State in front of 537 fans tonight at the John Kresse Arena.

The Cougars drop their first home game and go to 3-3 on the year, while East Tennessee State wins its fourth straight to go to 5-1.

The Bucs opened the game with a 10-0 run that was only ended at the 15:19 mark by two free throws from Erica Irick. The first Cougar basket came at 13:12 by Tiffany Green. East Tennessee State kept the deficit around 12 until about five minutes left in the first half when Charleston ended on a 9-0 run to go into the locker room only down by three at 26-23.

Charleston opened the second half with a basket by Marketta Talley and Chambers to take the short-lived 27-26 lead with 18:24 left. ETSU went back up with a small 6-0 run to go up by five with 15:04 left. Both teams traded baskets over the next 10 minutes and Charleston even tied the game at 46-all with just 5:22 left. The Cougars were unable to turn the corner and the Bucs were able to keep the lead on timely shots and rebounds. With 1:24 to go in the game the scored was tied again when Chambers connected on two free throws to make the score 55-55. That was as close as the Cougars would get as they missed a three-pointer late and ETSU made a timely steal and free throw to keep the game just out of reach for the 59-55 loss.

Four Bucs scored in double-figures with Candace Gibson leading the way with 19 points. She also had 11 rebounds for a double-double. Three other Bucs scored 10 points apiece. Chambers had 12 points for Charleston, while Williams netted 10 points to go along with her team-leading 11 boards. Charleston did out-rebound ETSU 50-38, but it was the Bucs with the .344 to .302 edge in field goal percentage. The Cougars were 16-for-18 from the line and enable the team to keep the game close in the waning minutes, as the Bucs were just 13-for-20.

The Bucs travel to Western Kentucky Dec. 11th for a 3:30 PM contest, while the Cougars are off for exams and resume Dec. 16th at Appalachian State in a 7:00 PM tip-off.