After a key road win last night at Furman, ETSU women’s basketball will look to strike twice in South Carolina as the Bucs take on Wofford on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 2 p.m.
After a 64-56 win over the Paladins yesterday, ETSU earned its first conference win of the season to add on to a successful 14-6 overall record this season. Saturday poses a challenge following Wofford’s successful start to the season, as the Terriers enter with a 13-5 overall record and a 3-1 mark in conference play.
MATCHUP INFO
Saturday, January 21, 2023 – East Tennessee State at Wofford
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Location: Spartanburg, S.C.
Venue: Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium
ABOUT THE BUCS
ETSU snapped a three-game skid with a come-from-behind 64-56 win over Furman on Thursday, ending the third quarter on a 23-5 run to flip a double-digit deficit into a lasting lead.
The Bucs finished non-conference play with a 13-3 record — the best non-conference finish in modern era program history. That era began when the SoCon began sponsoring a women’s basketball championship in 1983-84 — the same season ETSU finished with 11 non-conference wins.
ETSU has enjoyed one of the best turnarounds in the nation this season, improving from six wins last season to 14 this season under first year Buccaneer head coach Brenda Mock Brown.
According to Her Hoop Stats, ETSU has enjoyed one of the largest turnarounds in the nation when it comes to total win improvement (8) and winning percentage increase (+48.6) from last season to this season. Virginia, UIC and Illinois are the other three programs that join ETSU with the nation’s best turnarounds this season.
The Bucs are averaging 60.7 points per game, while ranking 15th in the nation with just 54.5 points allowed per game. The Bucs also rank 10th in the nation in offensive rebounding.
In the last seven games, ETSU has won the turnover battle. The Bucs are averaging 18 takeaways per game in that span, while only turning the ball over roughly 11 times per game.
In ETSU’s first 18 games this season, the team that won the rebound battle also won the game. ETSU was 13-0 when outrebounding the opponent and 0-5 when getting outrebounded in that span. In the last two games with Samford and Furman, the team with fewer rebounds pulled out the win.
Another trend that ended for ETSU in the last two games involved the halftime score. ETSU was previously 13-0 when leading at the break and 0-5 when trailing. Samford handed ETSU its first loss by erasing a three-point halftime lead, while the Bucs flipped the script on Furman by erasing a four-point halftime deficit.
Graduate guard Jiselle Thomas (Norwalk, Ohio) leads the Bucs with 14.5 points per game to rank sixth in the league. She has scored in double figures in eight of the last 10 games.
Milestone Watch: Jakhyia Davis (Knoxville, Tenn.) — a three-year member of the program — is five points away from scoring her 500th career point. She had her 400th career rebound on Thursday against Furman — joining Thomas and Jayla Ruffus-Milner (North Hills, Calif.) with the milestone.
Sophomore wing Sarah Thompson (Gate City, Va.) had a career night against Furman, sinking four triples for a career-high 12 points in the second half. Three of the four came back-to-back-to-back in a personal 9-0 run in the third quarter to flip the lead for good.
This season, ETSU seeks its first winning campaign and postseason appearance since 2018, where the team finished 20-13 overall, 11-3 in the SoCon and with an appearance in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT). ETSU has made three NCAA tournament appearances all-time (2008, 2009, 2010) and four WNIT appearances (1995, 2006, 2014, 2018).
ABOUT THE TERRIERS
Wofford enters with a 13-5 overall record and a 3-1 start to SoCon play.
The Terriers are undefeated at home with an 8-0 record, including wins over Coastal Carolina, Southern Wesleyan, Davidson, Appalachian State, Emory & Henry, Erskine, Furman and Chattanooga.
Wofford’s lone conference loss came in Cullowhee at Western Carolina by a 53-49 final.
The Terriers lead the SoCon with 70.1 PPG while allowing 63.6 PPG.
Wofford is not afraid to launch three-pointers, ranking 19th in the nation with 26.3 three-point attempts per game. Wofford ranks third in the SoCon with a 31.6 three-point percentage.
Turnovers have also been a key factor in Wofford’s success with just 11.1 turnovers per game to rank third in the nation and a 5.94 turnover margin this season to rank 17th in the nation.
Rachael Rose and Jackie Carman are the only duo in the SoCon that ranks among the top five scorers currently, leading Wofford with 15.4 and 15.0 PPG, respectively. Rose is also the team’s leading rebounder with 5.4 per game and assister with 4.0 per game.
Rose is also the league’s top three-point shooter when it comes to percentage, making 24 of her 50 attempts for 48 percent. She and Carman (36) are both top ten league-wise in made triples per game.
Annabelle Schultz ranks second in the league with 2.0 steals per game.
Wofford’s head coach is Jimmy Garrity, who owns an even 97-97 record through seven seasons. In 10 years as a head coach, Garrity has a 163-123 record.
SERIES HISTORY
Saturday marks the 37th all-time meeting.
ETSU leads the series 24-12 with 12 wins at home and 12 wins on the road.
Wofford previously owned an eight-game win streak against ETSU, but that was snapped in the last regular season meeting between the two as ETSU won 70-64 in Brooks Gym.
ETSU’s last win in Spartanburg came exactly five years ago today — a 61-58 win on Jan. 20, 2018.
ETSU and Wofford have met in the SoCon tournament four of the last five seasons. ETSU won the first of those meetings in 2018, but Wofford won in 2019, 2021 and 2022.
