JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - East Tennessee State women's basketball opens the 2025-26 road slate at No. 8 Tennessee on Friday evening in Knoxville with a 6:30 p.m. tip-off.
 
Match Information:
East Tennessee State at No. 8 Tennessee
Nov. 7 | 6:30 p.m. | Knoxville, Tenn. | Food City Center
Game Notes | Live Stats | Watch (ESPN+)
Matchup Notes:

• Last Meeting: 2021 - L, 58-112 at No. 9 Tennessee 
  • Jakhyia Davis led the Bucs with 17 points, three steals and eight rebounds, going 6-13 on field goals and 4-4 on free throws with 27 minutes played
  • Courtney Moore tallied her career-high in assists with seven, which remained through the last four years of her career.
  • Aaliyah Vananda went 3-4 at the line with three assists, three steals and 12 total points. 
• First Meeting: 1969 - L, 32-40 at Tennessee
• The Lady Vols lead the series at 25-1.

vs. Elon

• Richardson collected a career-high 21 points. Led the squad all-around with 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. 
• Younkin saw a career-high 36 minutes of action with career-highs in points (8) and rebounds (8) and recorded her first career block. 
• Monsanto recorded a notable collegiate debut with 4 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals and one assist. 
• ETSU outscored Elon in points from turnovers (13-10) and fast breaks (9-5). 
• Team totaled 51 points, 45 rebounds, 9 assists, 6 blocks and 7 steals. 

 
Meghan Downing - Preseason All-SoCon
Carmen Richardson - Preseason All-SoCon
 

• ETSU women's basketball enters its 46th season of competition in the 2025-26 campaign.
• Brenda Mock Brown returns for her fourth season as head coach of East Tennessee State women's basketball, after guiding the Bucs to a 60-35 overall record through her first three seasons with the program.
• The 2025-26 squad consists of four freshmen, four sophomores, two juniors and four seniors.  There are seven newcomers and seven returners on the roster, with three transfers in.
• Eric Gracia enters his third season with the staff, Honey Brown in her second and Joe Silvestri and Nadiria Evans enter their first.
• Meghan Downing and Carmen Richardson were tabbed to the Preseason All-SoCon team. 
• ETSU was picked to finish third overall in the conference after finishing third in 2024-25.
• The squad faces competition from 11 conferences (SEC, ACC, CAA, CUSA, CIAA, OVC, AAC, ASUN, Big South, Conference Carolinas and the SoCon) across the 29 scheduled contests.
• Brooks Gymnasium will house action for 14 of 29 games in the 2025-26 campaign and tickets can be purchased here.
• ETSU opens conference action on Jan. 8 with Furman at home in Brooks Gym and closes regular season on the road at Samford on Feb. 28.
• The Bucs look towards their first SoCon Tourament title at the conclusion of the 2025-26 regular season, which will be held at Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville, N.C. over March 6-9 and streamed on ESPN+.

2025 Southern Conference Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Chattanooga (6) - 48 
2. UNCG (2) - 39 
3. ETSU - 38  
4. Wofford - 28 
5. Furman - 26  
6. Samford - 19  
7. Western Carolina - 14 
8. Mercer - 12 
() denotes first-place votes

2025 Southern Conference Women's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team
Meghan Downing, Sr., F, ETSU  
Carmen Richardson, So., G, ETSU 
Clare Coyle, So., F, Furman 
Ariana Bennett, Sr., F, Mercer 
Makiah Asidanya, Jr., G, UNCG 
Jaila Lee, Sr., G, UNCG 
Emily Bowman, R-Sr., C, Samford  
Gianna Corbitt, So., F, Chattanooga 
Caia Elisaldez, Jr., G, Chattanooga  
Molly Masingale, So., G, Wofford 
 

• The Bucs recorded their third consecutive winning season with a 17-13 record, ending their season in the opening round of the Southern Conference Tournament.
• Meghan Downing was tabbed to the SoCon All-Defensive Team, Courtney Moore was a First Team All-SoCon selection and Carmen Richardson was awarded a spot on the All-SoCon Freshman Team following a third-place finish in the league.
• The squad led the league in blocked shots (100 at 3.33 per game).
• Meghan Downing set the ETSU single-season blocks record (70, 2024-25) and remains second all-time in ETSU single-game records for blocks (5 vs. Coker in 2023).  Downing also recorded three doubles in the 2024-25 slate: 16 pts and 10 rebs vs. Furman, 18 pts and 10 rebs vs. UNC Greensboro and 12 pts and 15 rebs at Lipscomb.
• Courtney Moore finished the season as the third most effective shooter in the conference, tallying 361 points at 12.89 points per game while leading the league in free throw percentage at .833 (75 FTM, 90 FTA).  Moore also found herself top five in the conference in steals with 46 total at 1.64 per game.
• Meghan Downing was the fourth most effective rebounder at 227 total with 7.57 per game while leading the conference in blocks with 70 total at 2.33 per game.  Downing also recorded eight double-digit rebound games.
• Paige Lyons found herself on the 20-point performances list with her career-high 23 points at Furman.
• The Bucs were selected to finish fifth in the SoCon Preseason Poll, yet finished third overall in the regular season.

Season, single-game and group tickets can be purchased here.
For more information on Buccaneer women's volleyball, follow @ETSU_wbb on X (Twitter) and Instagram, and visit ETSUBucs.com.