JOHNSON CITY, TN—East Tennessee State broke away from a halftime tie to score the first eight points of the third quarter in route to a 62-45 victory over Winthrop on Sunday afternoon in Brooks Gym.
 
The loss was Winthrop's third straight as its record drops to 1-3 while ETSU improves to 2-1 and now leads the all-time series 7-3 after not meeting on the court in 24 years.
 
For the second straight game, the Eagles succumbed to turnovers as they committed 29 in the game which led to 19 ETSU points.  Winthrop was also outrebounded 46-29 as the Buccaneers pulled down 21 offensive rebounds that led to another 14 points. That combination of 33 points proved fatal for the Eagles.
 
Winthrop senior Erica Williams led all scorers in the game with 16 and was the only Eagle player in double figures.  ETSU got balanced scoring as junior Tianna Tarter led the Bucs with 16 while Shamauria Bridges finished with 11.  Twelve of the 13 ETSU players got into the scoring column.
 
After connecting of 11 of 20 field goals in the first half, Winthrop made just six field goals in the second half and finished the game shooting 37.8 percent (17 of 45).  With its big advantage on the offensive glass, ETSU went 11 of 40 in the first half and finished the game by connecting on 14 of 27 shots in the second half to finish at 37.3 percent (25-67). 
 
The Eagles led just once in the game after freshman guard Danyael Goodhope's steal and layup put Winthrop up 2-0 just 24 seconds into the contest.  Winthrop trailed 12-10 after the first quarter thanks to 5 of 22 shooting by ETSU which had eight offensive rebounds and forced another eight Eagle turnovers.
 
Just when it appeared that ETSU was going to put the game out of reach late in the second quarter with a 28-17 lead, Winthrop finished the first half with a 13-2 run to tie the game 30-30 at intermission on a buzzer beater by junior guard Naima Jackson.  The Eagles held ETSU without a field goal for the final 3:35 of the second quarter and made four of five shots of their own to claw back into the game.
 
The game turned in favor of ETSU to start the third quarter as Goodhope was whistled for her fourth foul in the opening five seconds and had to go to the bench.  Without its floor leader on the court, the Eagles went more than four minutes before scoring in the period on a layup by freshman Uchey Ufochukwu. By that time ETSU had taken a 38-32 lead.  A 3-pointer by freshman Angela Coello Perez cut the deficit to 38-35 with 5:16 left in the period, but ETSU responded with a 14-0 run in a little over three minutes to take a 52-35 lead with 27 seconds left in the quarter.
 
Winthrop had to play nearly the entire fourth quarter without Goodhope who was whistled for her fifth foul just 28 seconds into the final period.  The Eagles never got any closer than 13 points in the fourth quarter after Jackson scored on a 12 foot jumper with 2:42 left in the game.
 
"One thing's for sure. These games are getting us ready to handle pressure, but you wouldn't know it by the way we played," said head coach Kevin Cook. "We worked on the press for 30 minutes yesterday in practice, but our young players are not used to the faster pace of play, but it will come. I can promise that.  I ask out fans to just hang with us.  The light is going to click on.  I can't say when, but it will be this year. I am certain of that."
 
Winthrop will now travel to St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands to play in the Paradise Jam over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  The Eagles are scheduled to meet 12^th ranked Florida State on Thanksgiving Day and will face Michigan on Friday before closing out the tournament against Gonzaga on Saturday.  All three games can be heard on 104.1 The Bridge and will be video streamed.