JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Dec. 14, 2023) – Behind a career-high scoring night by Nevaeh Brown, the ETSU women's basketball team secured a milestone win for head coach Brenda Mock Brown. 
 
Brown, one of four Buccaneer starters to score in double figures, netted a career-high 23 points as she fueled ETSU to a 60-51 victory over UNC Asheville on Thursday night inside Brooks Gym. In addition, Coach Mock – going up against her former team – registered her 150th career win. 
 
Joining Brown in double figures were Breanne Beatty, Courtney Moore and Kendall Folley as they combined for 56 of the Bucs' points. Beatty added 13 points, while Moore and Folley each had 10. Beatty and Folley each grabbed seven rebounds, while Folley also dished out three assists. Jakhyia Davis, ETSU's other starter, led all players with 10 rebounds. 
 
With the win, ETSU improved to 8-3 on the season, matching its 11-game start from last year. The last time ETSU opened 8-3 or better in back-to-back seasons was in the 1980-81 (10-1) and 1981-82 (8-3) campaigns. The Bucs also moved to a perfect 4-0 against Big South foes on the year and now lead the all-time series against UNC Asheville, 20-4. 
 
Coach Mock, who coached for eight seasons at UNCA, recorded 117 of those wins with the Bulldogs, with the other 33 coming in her year-plus at ETSU. 
 
ETSU looked as they were going to cruise early on by hitting its first three triples and stormed out to a 13-4 run, but the Bulldogs sprinted back. UNCA ended the quarter on a 14-6 run to pull within a point at, 19-18; however, the Blue & Gold turned up the heat defensively to close the first half. The Bucs held the Bulldogs to just three points on 1-of-14 shooting in the second quarter as ETSU took a 27-21 lead into halftime. 
 
The Bucs came out of halftime with momentum as they built a nine-point advantage when a driving lay-up by Brown made it 38-29 with 5:15 left in the third quarter. 
 
However, things quickly shifted and the Bulldogs fought back. 
 
Over the next 10 minutes, UNCA mounted an 18-6 surge – including an 8-0 run during that span – to take its first lead of the night, 47-44, at the 5:20 mark of the fourth quarter. 
 
ETSU quickly answered the bell when Brown banked in a three following a 30-second timeout to pull even at 47. The Bulldogs took the lead once more at 49-47, but a triple by Beatty from the corner put the Bucs back ahead for good at 50-49 with just under four minutes left to play. 
 
Neither team scored for the next two and half minutes until ETSU's eighth three-pointer of the night – coming from Moore – sealed the milestone victory for the Buccaneer leader. After struggling at the free throw line for the majority of the night, Brown and Beatty combined to make the final seven at the charity stripe to ice the game. 
 
Like they did in the second quarter, ETSU's defense came up big late as the Bucs held the Bulldogs without a field goal for the final four minutes and seven seconds. 
 
For the contest, ETSU limited the Bulldogs to 31.3 percent shooting (20-64) and 23.8 percent shooting from beyond the arc (5-21). 
 
UNCA was led by Lalmani Simmons as she scored 15 points. With the loss, the Bulldogs dropped to 4-6. 
 
ETSU continues its home stand on Sunday night when the Bucs take Campbell at 2 p.m. inside Brooks Gym. 
  
For more information on ETSU women's basketball, go to ETSUBucs.com and click on the women's basketball tab.