JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Jan. 31, 2024) – The ETSU women's basketball team will return to Johnson City on Thursday to host Furman. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at Brooks Gym.
 
GAME INFO
DATE: Thursday, February 1
TIME: 7 p.m. 
LOCATION: Johnson City, Tenn. (Brooks Gym)
TEAMS: Furman vs. ETSU
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+
LIVE STATS:  Statbroadcast
RADIO: WXSM-AM 640 
TWITTER: @ETSU_WBB
GAME SPONSOR: Ballad Health (Breast Cancer Awareness Game)
 
ABOUT THE BUCS

• ETSU dropped a 54-50 decision on the road at UNC Greensboro last Saturday. Saturday's loss moved ETSU's record to 14-6 overall and 3-2 in SoCon play.
• A highlight for the Bucs on Saturday came from Breanne Beatty. Beatty netted a season-high 15 points, and all her points came via a 3-pointer. The five makes from beyond the arc are the most by any Buccaneer this season and the most by an ETSU player since March 19, 2023, when Journee McDaniel made seven triples against Georgia Southern in the WBI.
• Nevaeh Brown chipped in 10 points of her own against the Spartans along with a season-high six assists. Brown, who ranks fourth in the SoCon in scoring average (13.2 PPG), has scored in double figures in 14 games this season, the most of any ETSU player. Additionally, her six assists on Saturday were the most by a Buc in 2023-24 and the most since Jiselle Thomas dished out seven helpers in the previously mentioned game vs. Georgia Southern last March.
• The Buccaneers have fared well playing in Johnson City this season as they are 9-1 with the lone setback occurring on November 30 vs. Lipscomb. ETSU is looking for its best 11-game start to a home schedule since 2009-10 when it finished the season a perfect 11-0 record at home. The SoCon has been a conference that has several teams with plenty of success on their respective home floors. Seven of the eight teams have winning marks at home and six of the eight have lost just one or two games at home.
• With a couple of makes beyond the arc on Saturday, Courtney Moore is now just six 3-pointers away from 150 in her ETSU career. Moore, who ranks second among active SoCon players in 3-pointers made, needs just 20 more threes to pull into a tie for the fifth place on the program's 3-pointers made list with former Buc Jennifer Cooke (164).
• ETSU enters the fourth week of league play ranked first in a couple of categories among SoCon teams, scoring defense and fouls per game. On a national level, ETSU is eighth in scoring defense (53.2 PPG) and 27^th in fouls per game (14.0).
• A couple of players to watch for ETSU on Thursday will be Kendall Folley and Jakhyia Davis. In the two games against Furman last season, she averaged 20 points per game, shot 75 percent from the field (16-for-24) to go with nine assists. Davis, meanwhile, scored a career-high 25 points against the Paladins in 2021 and has also had career-best outings against Furman in terms of steals (four) and blocks (five) in 2023.

ABOUT FURMAN

• Furman enters Thursday's game sporting an overall record of 12-9 that includes a 2-3 mark in league action.
• The Paladins have already surpassed last season's win total (11) in 2023-24.
• Earlier this season, the Paladins scored the most points by any SoCon team during the 2023-24 campaign (124 vs. Bob Jones).
• A couple of strengths for Furman are rebounding and bench scoring. The Paladins lead the SoCon in both rebounding margin (10.5 RPG) and bench scoring (27.1 PPG). On a national level, Furman is 13^th and 21^st in those respective categories.  
• A key in Furman's success on the glass has been Jada Session. Session not only leads the league in rebounds (187) but she is also Furman's leading scorer averaging 12.1 points per contest.
• The Bucs and Paladins have met over 70 times since the first matchup in the early 1970s. Furman has the historic edge against ETSU winning 46 of the 71 all-time meetings. The Buccaneers, however, swept the season series from the Paladins last year (64-56, 66-63) for the first time since 2018. 

UP NEXT 
ETSU will remain home on Saturday when it takes on Wofford at Freedom Hall. Saturday's game, which is scheduled for a 1:30 p.m. tip-off, is a part of a doubleheader with the men's basketball team. The men's team will take on The Citadel at 4 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.