The Lady Bucs just won their 4th in a row at Morehead State 86-77 to bring their season total to 7-4. 5 of those wins have come on the road, with only 3 games played at home thus far (2 of them wins).

Their streak includes road wins over George Mason, St. Francis PA and Morehead, and a home win over Eastern Kentucky. Losses include 2 seven point road losses – at Virginia Tech and at Indiana State. Also a 6 point home loss to Appy State. The only team to beat them soundly is Indiana in Bloomington.

This group is better than projected, having been picked 5th of 8 in the SoCon media poll and 6th of 8 in the preseason coaches poll. The only teams in the SoCon that should now be ranked clearly ahead of them is Chattanooga, with wins over UT, Butler and Villanova, and the Mocs have to replace their top 3, and 5 of their top 6 from a 24-9 squad last year. Perhaps Furman, too, 9-3 with a win over Appy State. I don’t think that Mercer or any of the others are significantly better.

They have 2 very solid young guards (Sophomore Shamauria Bridges with 16.2 points, 39 made 3’s at .371 and Freshman Tianna Tarter with 11.7 points on 13 made 3’s at.419, 4.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 2.7 turnovers and 1.5 steals) while Junior guard Chandler Christopher averages 10.0 points on 16 made 3’s at .372, 3.4 rebounds, 3 assists and 1.5 steals.

In the front court, 5’11” R-Sr Destiny Mitchell is making a comeback from knee problems nearly averaging a double-double with 11.6 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.2blocks and 1.2 steals, while 6’2” R-Sr Serena Clark averages 11.5 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and a steal. 5’10” Senior forward Maria Bond averages 9.9 points, 3.4 rebounds.

This is basically a 6 person rotation, with 1 other girl getting 10 minutes and a couple others getting 5 or 6 minutes. When Cara Bowling returns next month, the Lady Bucs should get a much needed productive addition to the roster.

But they outrebound the competition 40.3 to 38.7, and outscore them 76.3 to 71.7, while averaging .371 from 3 to opponents .247.

I’ve been reluctant to say much since the women’s team has had early promise, then crashed and burned for several years running. But at 7-4, it seems fair to say that Coach Ezell and the team seem to have righted the ship.

It is definitely worth a trip to Brooks to see them play.

I did not see Tartar bursting on the scene like she has. I think she's having a Tim Smith-like impact.

Coach Ezell has turned around every program she's coached and appears to have the Lady Bucs on a similar trajectory.

I have enjoyed the women's games we've attended this year. The move to Brooks was a great one IMO. I've heard they are looking to update the seating and a few other things as they get more settled in. The team is fun to watch and I think Coach Ezell is doing a fantastic job.

I also highly encourage everyone to go see a game or few.