JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – An exciting week of ETSU women’s basketball action begins on Thursday inside Brooks Gym, as the Buccaneers play host to the defending Southern Conference champion Mercer Bears at 7 p.m.
The first 250 fans to arrive at Brooks Gym will receive a free ETSU flag presented by Pepsi. Thursday’s presenting game sponsor is Food City.
This early SoCon challenge will be a prelude for ETSU’s marquee matchup with Samford on Saturday, which will be played inside Freedom Hall as part of a Saturday double-header with the ETSU men. Tip-off for the women on Saturday is at 1 p.m.
Fans can purchase single game tickets for Thursday and Saturday, or can bundle all remaining home games with the “SoCon Pack” starting at $21. Tickets can be purchased at ETSUBucs.com or by calling 423-439-3878.
MATCHUP INFO
Thursday, January 12, 2023 – East Tennessee State vs. Mercer
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Johnson City, Tenn.
Arena: Brooks Gym
Watch: ESPN+
TV Broadcasters: “Voice of the Bucs” Jay Sandos (Play-by-Play) and Bruce Tranbarger (Analyst)
Radio: WXSM-AM 640 | 104.9 NASH ICON
Radio Broadcaster: Keith Brake (Play-by-Play)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Tickets: ETSUTickets.com
SoCon Pack: Click Here
Presenting Game Sponsor: Food City
Gameday Promotion: ETSU Flag Giveaway – First 250 Fans
ABOUT THE BUCS
- ETSU enters with a 13-4 overall record following a record 13 non-conference victories.
- The Southern Conference began sponsoring a women’s basketball championship in 1983-84. In that first season, ETSU had 11 non-conference wins, which marked the school record for non-conference wins for 39 years. ETSU broke that this season with 13.
- For the third straight week, ETSU is ranked in the College insider Women’s Mid-Major Top-25 Poll. The Bucs fell three spots to No. 23 this week, but remain the only SoCon team in the rankings. Wofford is receiving votes.
- Prior to this season, ETSU’s last ranking in the mid-major poll was in November of 2010.
- Last Thursday, ETSU opened conference play with a 53-50 loss to Chattanooga. Trailing by double-digits, the Bucs strung together a 16-4 run in the fourth quarter to pull within a basket, but had a game-tying buzzer beater miss off the glass.
- In Monday’s NCAA statistical update, the Bucs are ranked 11th in the country in scoring defense with 52.9 points allowed per game, 12th in offensive rebounding with 15.8 RPG and 26th in rebound margin at +9.1.
- ETSU is the SoCon leader in scoring margin (+8.3), scoring defense (52.9), field goal percentage defense (35.4 percent), rebound margin (+9.1) and total wins (13).
- ETSU is 13-0 when outrebounding the opponent and 0-4 when the opponent wins the rebound battle. The Bucs are also 12-1 when holding opponents to under 59 points, a 12-game streak that was snapped by Chattanooga last week.
- ETSU has lost four games this season. After the first three losses, the Bucs went on to enjoy three separate streaks involving four or more wins. The most recent loss to Bowling Green brought about a five-game win streak with wins over Charleston Southern, UNC Asheville, Longwood, Mount St. Mary’s and Converse College.
- Graduate guard Jiselle Thomas (Norwalk, Ohio) leads the Bucs with 14.5 points per game to rank sixth in the league. She scored her 1,000th career point in the season opener against No. 1 South Carolina. Her 88.0 percent shooting from the free throw line ranks second in the league.
- Sophomore guard Nevaeh Brown (Charlotte, N.C.) is averaging 9.8 PPG and ranks fourth in the SoCon with a 1.66 assist-to-turnover ratio.
- ETSU’s two-headed monster on the boards has been true freshman Journee McDaniel (New Bern, N.C.) and graduate Jayla Ruffus-Milner (North Hills, Calif.). Both are among the top 10 rebounders in the conference.
- Ruffus-Milner is among the top 10 players nationally in offensive rebounding, averaging 4.2 offensive rebounds per game to rank eighth.
- Milestone Watch: Sophomore Jakhyia Davis (Knoxville, Tenn.) is 17 points away from scoring her 500th career point and 16 rebounds away from her 400th career rebound — all in an ETSU uniform.
- The Blue and Gold are led by Coach Brenda Mock Brown, who took over in August. Notorious for her turnaround at UNC Asheville, Coach Mock has already doubled last year’s win total for ETSU with a full conference schedule still to play.
- Coach Mock’s 13-3 record tied legendary coach Dr. Janice Shelton for the best 16 game start to an ETSU coaching career in program history.
- In Dr. Shelton’s first two seasons from 1968-1970, she went 6-2 the first season and 7-1 the second season. Ironically, Coach Mock had a similar two month stretch this year with a 6-2 record in November and a 7-1 record in December.
- ETSU is 6-2 inside Brooks Gym and 7-2 away from Brooks Gym this season.
- This season, ETSU will seek 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 BEARS
- Mercer enters this week with a 5-10 overall record and a 1-1 record in league play.
- Last time out, Mercer defeated Western Carolina 76-40 en route to a historic win last Saturday. With the victory, longtime coach Susie Gardner celebrated her 400th career win — including 224 wins at Mercer.
- The Bears have played a tough schedule this season, ranking 48th in strength of schedule according to the current NCAA RPI/NET ratings. Wofford was the only other team in the Top 100, down 50 spots in 98th.
- Mercer opened its season with a win over Middle Tennessee State, who is ranked No. 23 in the NET rankings and has since went on to a 12-2 record.
- The Bears have just four wins in the last 14 games after that, including losses to four Power 5 schools and two losses to mid-major powerhouse Florida Gulf Coast, who’s ranked No. 3 in the latest College Insider Mid-Major Poll.
- In the month of January, Mercer owns a 1-2 record with losses to NCAA Division II opponent Anderson (SC) and UNCG and a win over Western Carolina.
- Mercer leads the lead in accuracy at the charity stripe and from behind the arc with a 78.8 free throw percentage and a 36.8 three-point percentage.
- Sophomore guard Erin Houpt is a big reason for the shooting success in both categories with a 97.9 free throw percentage (46-for-47) to rank second in the nation and a 42.7 three-point percentage (35-for-82) to rank atop the league and 40th in the nation.
- The SoCon Preseason Player of the Year is Amoria Neal-Tysor, who leads Mercer with 15.6 PPG and has scored in double figures in each of the last 10 games. She had 32 points in the win over MTSU.
- Graduate post Jaron Dougherty is another player to watch for Mercer with 9.3 PPG and 5.5 RPG. She also had 32 points for a season-high against Florida Gulf Coast.
SERIES HISTORY
- Thursday marks the 45th all-time meeting with Mercer leading the series, 24-20.
- The first meeting happened in 1980 — a 90-82 win for ETSU.
- Mercer has won the last three meetings, but ETSU won the two prior to that.
- ETSU’s last win over Mercer came on Feb. 22, 2020 in Brooks Gym — a dramatic 56-54 win on senior day.
- ETSU is 10-11 against Mercer at home, 7-9 in Macon and 3-3 on neutral ground.
- Only two of the all-time meetings went to overtime — both won by Mercer in 2006 and 2019.
- ETSU’s 56-29 win over Mercer in 2006 set the all-time record for fewest points allowed and fewest points combined. Both records were broken this season in separate games, including 26 points allowed against Virginia Lynchburg and 75 combined points against Vanderbilt.
- The last time ETSU scored 100 points in a game was against Mercer on Jan. 31, 2011. The Bucs went on to win 100-62.
