BY BRIAN T. SMITH
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – TaRonda Wiles spent the offseason shooting.
Wiles stayed in Johnson City, took the advice of one of her former coaches, and attempted to add another dimension to her all-around game during the summer: perimeter shooting.
Wiles was a key component for the Buccaneers last season, averaging 9.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists a game.
Yet as the year progressed, Wiles noticed teams playing her tight off the dribble, attempting to take away her ability to drive into the paint.
So, Wiles made an adjustment. She shot outside baskets as often as possible this summer. And now she feels she can bring another weapon to an ETSU offense that averaged 75.1 points per contest last season.
“My offseason was good,” said Wiles, a 5-foot-10 junior guard. “It was good to get away from everything and just work by myself. I got a lot of opportunity just to work on my shooting a lot, to offer more to my game.”
While Wiles is shooting for a soft touch from the perimeter, the Bucs are shooting for a repeat.
ETSU earned its first-ever berth to the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament last season after posting a 21-12 (14-2 Atlantic Sun) record and winning the A-Sun regular season and conference tournament titles.
The Bucs lost five players from that precedent-setting squad, including team-leader, guard/forward Michele DeVault (13.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.4 assists). And ETSU’s current roster is filled with youth — the Buccaneers feature three freshmen, five sophomores, four juniors and zero seniors.
Yet junior guard/forward Siarre Evans (13.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists) and junior forward Latisha Belcher (10.6 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.3 steals) return.
And ETSU coach Karen Kemp is hoping to build on what the 2007-08 Bucs created.
“You can’t ever let up,” said Kemp, who pointed toward defense as a key concern for this year’s squad.
“We’ve got to make sure we’re keeping our opponents from scoring points. Because we’ve got several different options we can go to offensively. … We’ve got to make sure we’re stopping our opponent on the offensive end.”
btsmith@bristolnews.com|(276) 645-2569
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