JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Nov. 29, 2023) – After playing five of its first six games of the season away from Johnson City, the ETSU women's basketball team will return home to Brooks Gym on Thursday when it hosts Lipscomb. Tip-off between the Bucs and Bisons is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
  
GAME INFO
DATE: Thursday, November 30
TIME: 7 p.m. 
LOCATION: Brooks Gym (Johnson City, Tenn.)
TEAMS: Lipscomb vs. ETSU
GAME SPONSOR: Hardee's
PROMOTION: All active and former military personnel along with first responders can receive a free ticket to Thursday's game. In order to claim your free ticket, please stop by the ticket office this week or at ticket sales area upon entry into Brooks Gym. 
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+ (Jay Sandos & Bruce Tranbarger)
LIVE STATS: Statbroadcast
RADIO: WXSM-AM 640 (Keith Brake)
TWITTER: @ETSU_WBB
 
ABOUT THE BUCS

• ETSU went 1-1 at last weekend's Miami Thanksgiving Tournament. The Bucs defeated Norfolk State by a score of 55-35 on Friday before falling to the homestanding Hurricanes, 68-44 on Sunday. With those results, ETSU is 4-2 on the 2023-24 campaign.
• Defense continues to be a strength for ETSU as it held Norfolk State, which was in the NCAA Tournament last season, to just 35 points last Friday. The 35 points by the Spartans marked the lowest point total for a Division I team against the Bucs since December 1, 2022 when ETSU grinded out a 44-31 victory against Vanderbilt.
• Nationally, the Bucs are tied for 33^rd in scoring defense allowing 53.5 points per game. If ETSU can keep up its work defensively, it should mean positive results. Combined, the teams tied or ahead of ETSU in scoring defense have a combined winning percentage of over 81 percent so far this season.
• Another strength for ETSU in 2023-24 has been its ability to take care of the basketball. ETSU is 14^th in the country in turnovers per game (12.0). It is also tied for the lowest average among SoCon teams with UNC Greensboro.
• Thursday's game vs. Lipscomb will be just the second home game for ETSU this year (Nov. 11 vs. Lafayette). However, Thursday's contest will start a stretch of quite a few home games for the Bucs. Six of their next seven games and nine of the next 11 contests will be played in Johnson City. In 2022-23, ETSU went 10-4 at home.
• ETSU has made exactly seven 3-pointers in each of its last three games. The Bucs had a similar streak of knocking down shots from beyond the arc last January against Furman (eight made), Wofford (nine made) and Western Carolina (seven made). The last time ETSU made seven or more 3-pointers in four straight games was in the 2021-22 season when the Bucs made seven at Tennessee, eight against St. Bonaventure, seven vs. Chattanooga and seven more at Mercer.
• The matchup vs. Lipscomb will be the first game ETSU has played on a Thursday this season. ETSU was pretty successful playing on Thursdays last season as it compiled a record of 8-3.
• During Coach Mock's tenure leading the Buccaneers, the team has been stellar in bouncing back after a loss. ETSU had one three-game losing skid last season but it is the lone SoCon team to not have multiple stretches where it dropped two or more games in a row since the beginning of last season.

ABOUT LIPSCOMB

• Lipscomb enters Thursday's game with ETSU with the same record as the Bucs, 4-2.
• The Bisons have earned wins over Evansville (77-58), Morehead State (77-73), Tennessee State (74-43) and Mississippi Valley State (64-55) this season.
• Lipscomb is a team that relies heavily on the 3-pointer. The Bisons rank among the top 75 in country in 3-pointers attempted (64^th – 682), 3-pointers made (73^rd – 216) and 3-pointers made per game (61^st – 7.2).
• Leading this charge from beyond the arc has been Blythe Pearson. Pearson has drained 20 3-pointers in six games and is shooting 43.5 percent from 3-point range.
• ETSU and Lipscomb have met 21 times over the years and the Bucs have held the decisive advantage winning 19 of the 21 matchups. Thursday, however, will mark the first meeting between these two programs since 2014 when Lipscomb came away with a 76-74 win in Nashville. The Bisons are looking for their first ever win in Johnson City as they enter Thursday 0-9 in games played on the Bucs' home floor.
• With the 19-2 all-time record in the series, ETSU has had some of its best statistical outings vs. Lipscomb. The Bucs grabbed 60 rebounds in a game back on February 16, 2012, which is the fourth-most in a game in program history. Furthermore, on February 19, 2011, the Buccaneers went 30-for-36 from the free throw line to preserve a 66-52 victory. The 30 made free throws is tied for the second-most in a game by ETSU in program history (33 vs. Appalachian State – Feb. 27, 1991). 

UP NEXT 
Following Thursday's game, the Bucs will begin the month of December with a trip to Morehead State on Sunday. Tip-off for that game is set for 2 p.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.