JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Dec. 13, 2023) – The ETSU women's basketball team will continue its five-game home stand on Thursday when it welcomes UNC Asheville to Brooks Gym. Tip-off between the Buccaneers and Bulldogs is set for 7 p.m.
  
GAME INFO
DATE: Thursday, December 14
TIME: 7 p.m. 
LOCATION: Brooks Gym (Johnson City, Tenn.)
TEAMS: UNC Asheville vs. ETSU
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+ (Jay Sandos & Bruce Tranbarger)
LIVE STATS:  Statbroadcast
RADIO: WXSM-AM 640 (Keith Brake)
TWITTER: @ETSU_WBB
GAME SPONSOR: Advanced Call Center Technologies
 
ABOUT THE BUCS

• ETSU won its third straight game on Sunday as it downed Lees-McRae, 77-42, at Freedom Hall. With Sunday's victory, the Buccaneers are now 7-3 on the season.
• Sophomore Journee McDaniel led the way for the Bucs against the Bobcats totaling a season-high 17 points to go with 11 rebounds. McDaniel has been playing well lately as she averaged 14.5 points and 9.5 rebounds last week.
• The Bucs are doing the little things it takes to win as they rank among the top 24 teams in the country in fewest fouls per game (14^th – 13.0), scoring defense (23^rd – 53.5), and fewest turnovers per game (24^th – 12.8). ETSU is joined by Drexel as the only two teams in Division I that rank that highly in those three categories. Dartmouth, Colorado State, Manhattan, Oregon State, Albany, San Diego State, Vermont rank that highly in two of the three. Furthermore, these nine schools mentioned collectively have a winning percentage of 70 percent.
• After topping 70 points just once in its first eight games, the Bucs have put together back-to-back performances of 70-plus points (79 vs. Charleston Southern, 77 vs. Lees-McRae). If ETSU scores 70 or more vs. Asheville, it'll mark the first string of three straight games of scoring 70 or more points since last January when the team scored 75, 70 and 74 against Wofford, Western Carolina and UNC Greensboro.
• ETSU is 3-0 so far this December and it hopes to keep things rolling against the Bulldogs. Since Coach Mock started her tenure in Johnson City, ETSU is 10-1 in December with the lone setback occurring last year vs. Bowling Green.
• Thursday's game will mark the fourth time this season that ETSU has faced a team from the Big South Conference. The Bucs, who are 3-0 in those matchups, are 58-37 all-time against the current members of the conference. During Coach Mock's tenure, the Bucs are a perfect 6-0 against Big South squads.
• If the Bucs win on Thursday, they'll match their record through 11 games last season (8-3). The last time that ETSU has had a record of 8-3 or better in back-to-back seasons was in the 1980-81 (10-1) and 1981-82 (8-3) campaigns.  
• Coach Mock, who was the head coach at UNC Asheville for eight seasons, could notch her 150^th career win as a collegiate head coach on Thursday. During her tenure in Asheville, she guided the Bulldogs to four postseason appearances (two NCAA Tournament, two WBI), its most wins in season (26) and its lone regular season conference title (2015-16).
• The Buccaneers are 19-4 all-time against the Bulldogs, including a 9-2 mark in games played in Johnson City. ETSU snapped a three-game losing skid to Asheville last season when it defeated the home-standing Bulldogs, 64-52. Courtney Moore led the way with 16 points followed by double-digit scoring efforts from Sarah Thompson (11 points) and Nevaeh Brown (10 points).

ABOUT UNC ASHEVILLE

• Asheville will bring a 4-5 record with it to Johnson City on Thursday. The Bulldogs have won games against Tennessee State (53-38), Queens (67-53), Warren Wilson (88-33) and Western Carolina (59-48) this season.
• The Bulldogs are veteran team as 10 players on their roster are juniors, seniors or are in their fifth-years of college basketball.
• A player to watch for Asheville is McKinley Brooks-Sumpter. Brooks-Sumpter, an All-Big South selection last season, leads the Bulldogs in scoring (14.6 PPG) and rebounding (5.9 RPG).
• The Bulldogs enter Thursday's game leading the Big South in scoring defense allowing just 53.8 points per game. That mark not only paces Big South teams but also ranks 27^th nationally.
• Asheville's Head Coach Honey Brown was on Coach Mock's coaching staff at UNC Asheville from 2013-20 first as an Assistant Coach before being promoted to the post of Associate Head Coach. Brown has now led the Bulldogs for the past four seasons.   

UP NEXT 
ETSU will face former conference foe Campbell on Sunday. Tip-off for that contest is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Brooks Gym.
 
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.