Johnson City, Tenn. – The UNCG women's basketball team (8-10, 0-3 SoCon) lost it's first road game of the Southern Conference season, 73-89, at ETSU Thursday night. The Spartans were led by Lucy Mason (Stone Mountain, Ga./Chamblee Charter) who had 23 points. ETSU's Tianna Tarter led all scorers with 33 points shooting 12-of-19 from the field and a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line.

The Spartans jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter, holding a 12-9 lead at the media timeout with 4:51 to go. The Bucs rallied and close the half on a 17-3 run to lead by 11, 25-16, at the end of the frame. The Spartans fell behind by 14 points by the 7:14 mark but were able to cut the deficit to single digits with a fast break layup from Mason at 6:37. ETSU continued to add to its lead backed by Tarter's 20 points and led 49-33 at halftime.

UNCG shot 40 percent from the field and grabbed down 16 rebounds in the first half but was plagued by eight turnovers in which ETSU scored 16 points off of. The Bucs shot an impressive 55.9 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from behind the arc connecting on 4-of-7 three-pointers.

ETSU pulled ahead by as many as 22 points in the third quarter but UNCG was able to cut it to an 18-point deficit at the end of the period, trailing 67-49. A trey by Mason late in the fourth made it a 15-point game but ETSU held off UNCG's late push for a 16-point victory to improve to 7-0 at home this season.

The Spartans shot 41.7 percent from the field in the second half and 40.9 percent overall in the loss. ETSU improved in the second half to shoot 59.3 percent making their field goal percentage .574 in the win. UNCG held a 37-34 advantage on the glass with Jade Scaife (Fort Washington, Md./Archbishop Spalding) pulling down a game-high eight rebounds.

Scaife was the only other Spartan in double-figures scoring while ETSU had five players score in double figures. Mariah Wilson (Atlanta, Ga./North Atlanta) blocked a game-best three shots while ETSU's Chandler Christopher and Tarter both dished out a game-high six assists.

ETSU now leads the all-time series 13-12. The two will face off in Greensboro February 13, at 2 p.m.

-UNCG-