MACON, Ga. (Feb. 7, 2024) – The ETSU women's basketball team will hit the road for the first time in February on Thursday when it visits Mercer. Tip-off between the Buccaneers and Bears is set for 7 p.m.  
 
GAME INFO
DATE: Thursday February 7
TIME: 7 p.m. 
LOCATION: Macon, Ga. (Hawkins Arena)
TEAMS: ETSU at Mercer
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+
LIVE STATS:  Statbroadcast
RADIO: WXSM-AM 640 
TWITTER: @ETSU_WBB
 
ABOUT THE BUCS

• ETSU dropped a 77-65 contest to Wofford last Saturday at Freedom Hall. With Saturday's loss, the Bucs moved to 15-7 overall and 4-3 in SoCon play.
• Nevaeh Brown paced the Buccaneers in scoring against the Terriers with 17 points. She has scored in double figures in 12 of her last 13 games and currently ranks fourth in the league in field goal percentage (42.5).
• The Bucs received a spark off the bench on Saturday from Journee McDaniel. McDaniel netted 11 points in just 14 minutes of action, which included a trio of makes from beyond the arc.
• Meghan Downing, who made her fourth straight start, also had a stellar game matching a season-high with 10 points to go with eight rebounds and a pair of blocks. Downing enters this week's action ranked third in the league in blocks per game (1.05).
• Even though it was in a losing effort, the Bucs set a new season-high with 13 made 3-pointers on Saturday. The last time ETSU made that many threes in a game was in the final game of the WBI last season when it made 13 as well in a 96-49 victory over Georgia Southern.
• Speaking of 3-pointers, Breanne Beatty has been one of ETSU's main options from long range lately. Beatty has made 12 threes in her last three games. In comparison, Beatty made just 20 shots from beyond the arc in her first 19 games of the season.
• ETSU enters the second half of its conference schedule leading the league in scoring defense (54.5 PPG). The Bucs are also second in the SoCon in field goal percentage defense (36.9) and overall winning percentage (68.2).
• The Bucs have played much better this season in night games as just two of ETSU's five losses this season have come in games when the tip-off time was later than 6 p.m. (Kentucky and Lipscomb). 
• Courtney Moore, who led ETSU with 16 points in a game vs. Mercer earlier this season, needs to make just three more 3-pointers to reach 150 in her collegiate career.

ABOUT MERCER

• Mercer enters Thursday's game with ETSU with an overall record of 9-14 (3-4 SoCon). The Bears are coming off an impressive 87-59 win on the road at Samford last Saturday.
• A player to watch for Mercer is Summah Evans. Evans, who was the 2022-23 SoCon Defensive Player of the Year, scored a season-high 35 points that included five 3-pointers in Saturday's win against the Bulldogs.
• As a team, the Bears currently lead the SoCon in steals per game (8.4). Mercer also is second in the conference in offensive rebounds per game (14.7), 3-point percentage (34.7), turnovers forced per game (16.00).
• The Bears have defended their home court well lately as they have won five of their last six games at Hawkins Arena. Four of those five wins were by double digits.
• The all-time series between the Buccaneers and Bears consists of 47 games. Mercer holds the historic edge on the Bucs as it has won 25 of those 47 contests. ETSU, which defeated Mercer 77-71 last month in Johnson City, is 8-10 on Mercer's home floor over the years with one of those victories coming last February, 62-46. If the Bucs knock off the Bears on Thursday, it'll be the first time they have won back-to-back games in Macon since 2015-16. Furthermore, it would be ETSU's first season sweep of the Bears since 2019-20.

UP NEXT 
ETSU will remain on the road after Thursday when it heads to Alabama to take on Samford on Saturday. Tip-off for Saturday's contest is set for 3 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.