Banjo hits the right notes in ETSU's win over Redhawks

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -- East Tennessee State put up 50 points in the second half to beat the Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team 81-74 on Wednesday night.

The Redhawks fell to 5-6 with their third loss in four games.

East Tennessee State snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 6-3. The Bucs are 4-0 at home this season.

Senior guard B.J. Banjo, a preseason Atlantic Sun all-conference choice, led the Bucs with a career-high 39 points, including 12 of 20 shooting from the field. She made four of eight 3-point attempts.

Nichelle Akers and Candace Gibson also were in double figures for ETSU with 14 points apiece.

Southeast shot 47.6 percent from the field to ETSU's 47.5 percent. But Southeast was five-for-19 on treys and committed 22 turnovers to ETSU's 14.

Senior forward Tatiana Conceicao led Southeast with 21 points, scoring 18 in the second half. The OVC's preseason player of the year grabbed five rebounds and was 6-for-6 from the line.

Freshman Rachel Blunt from Dexter added 16 points, hitting seven of eight shots from the field.

Southeast held ETSU scoreless for the first four minutes with its pressure defense.

After Banjo scored with 15:38 to play in the first half, the rest of the period featured seven lead changes and 10 ties. Blunt's last-second layup left the teams tied at halftime.

The Bucs went on a 17-2 to run to start the second half and led 48-33 with less than 15 minutes to play.

Southeast nearly rallied all the way back, closing to within 75-72 with 1:53 to play. But Banjo hit five free throws down the stretch for ETSU.

After a three-game road trip, Southeast returns home Monday for an Ohio Valley Conference game at 8:15 p.m. against Eastern Kentucky.