JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Nov. 10, 2023) – The ETSU women's basketball team will open its home schedule on Saturday as it welcomes Lafayette to Brooks Gym. Tip-off between the Bucs and Leopards is set for Noon.
  
GAME INFO
DATE: Saturday, Nov. 11
TIME: Noon 
LOCATION: Brooks Gym (Johnson City, Tenn.)
TEAMS: Lafayette at ETSU
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast
TWITTER: @ETSU_WBB
 
ABOUT THE BUCS

• ETSU opened the 2023-24 season with a 74-66 loss at Kentucky. The Bucs held the lead in each of the first three quarters but the Wildcats answered with a strong fourth quarter to pick up the win.
• Kendall Folley led ETSU on Tuesday by scoring 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting (4-of-4 at the free throw line) along with five rebounds, five assists and two steals in 32 minutes at Kentucky on Tuesday night. Folley was 8-of-10 from the field in the second half with 18 points scored. She also netted 12 of ETSU's 16 points in the fourth quarter where she was a perfect 5-of-5 from the field.
• Folley was also named the SoCon Student-Athlete of the Week following her performance against the Wildcats.
• Courtney Moore also had a stellar season debut scoring 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field. The 17-point effort from Moore matched her season-high point total from last season.
• ETSU hopes to build upon a stellar home season in 2022-23. The Bucs totaled 10 victories in Johnson City last season, which was their most in a season since the 2017-18 campaign.
• The Buccaneers were picked to finish first by the league coaches and second by media members when the SoCon announced the annual preseason polls late last month. It marks the first time that the Bucs have been tabbed the preseason favorite since 2018.
• ETSU Head Women's Basketball Coach Brenda Mock Brown was named to the inaugural watch list for the 2024 Kathy Delaney-Smith Mid-Major Coach of the Year Award presented by Her Hoop Stats. In her first season leading the Buccaneers, Coach Mock guided ETSU to new heights as the Blue & Gold won a school-record 25 games en route to posting the largest turnaround in NCAA Division I basketball in 2023-24.
• Nevaeh Brown and Folley earned Preseason All-Southern Conference honors at the media day event last month. The last time that two Bucs landed Preseason All-SoCon honors was in 2016 (Shamauria Bridges & Tianna Tarter).
• Brown played in 33 games with 22 starts in her first season as a Buccaneer in 2022-23. She ranked third on the team in scoring with 10.7 points per game. She also finished second on the squad in assists (77), free throws made (60), field goals made (134) and steals (39). Brown averaged 31.8 minutes per game, tied for the team lead with Folley.
• Folley had a stellar debut season in the Blue & Gold, earning consensus All-SoCon Second Team honors and a spot on the All-SoCon Defensive Team. Folley ranked 14^th in the conference averaging 11.1 points per game. In SoCon play, she upped her production to 14.3 points per contest that ranked ninth in the league. The Buccaneer guard paced the Bucs in steals with 44. She also earned a pair of SoCon Player of the Week honors in 2022-23.
• In addition to breaking the school record for overall wins last season (25), the Bucs also broke the program record for the most wins outside of conference play with 13.
• ETSU fielded one of the youngest teams in the nation last season with 12 underclassmen on a 14-player roster. Only Jiselle Thomas, who recently signed a professional contract to play in Ireland, graduated from the team this offseason.
• The 2022-23 season was the first winning season for ETSU women's basketball since the 2017-18 campaign when they finished 20-13.
• ETSU also finished third at last season's Women's Basketball Invitational where it picked up victories over FIU and Georgia Southern.

ABOUT LAFAYETTE

• Lafayette is coming off a 10-19 season in 2022-23. The Leopards bring back nine players from last season's team for 2023-24.
• The Leopards were picked to finish eighth in the Patriot League in the annual preseason poll. Abby Antognoli is the team's leading returning scorer after averaging 12.5 points per game.
• Lafayette opened the new season with a 75-41 loss at Syracuse on Tuesday.  

SERIES HISTORY 

• Saturday will be the third all-time meeting between the Buccaneers and Leopards. Currently, the series is tied 1-1.
• ETSU came away with a convincing 65-45 win last November in the last meeting between these two programs.
• This will be Lafayette's first ever trip to Johnson City.

UP NEXT 
Following Saturday's game, the Buccaneers will return to action next Wednesday when they visit Radford. Tip-off for that contest is set for 11:30 a.m.   
 
PURCHASE TICKETS
To purchase season or single game tickets for ETSU women's basketball, visit ETSUTickets.com or call 423-439-3878.
 
For more information on Buccaneer women's basketball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the women's basketball tab.