WBB-FCS: Samford Bulldogs (9-9) at ETSU Buccaneers (13-5)

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – For the first time since 2019, ETSU women’s basketball will take its show down the road to Freedom Hall as the Bucs welcome Samford to town on Saturday, Jan. 14 for a 1 p.m. tip.

Saturday’s home game in Freedom will be a #GoldOut as fans will receive a gold rally towel and are encouraged to wear their favorite gold ETSU attire. The Bucs will also wear their gold uniforms for the first time this season.

The tilt will serve as the first half of a doubleheader with the ETSU men’s team, who will be hosting Mercer at 4 p.m. following the women’s game.

Fans will only be required to show their men’s basketball ticket for entry into both games. Fans who only have tickets to the women’s game, will be sent tickets from the ETSU ticket office with seating inside Freedom Hall, which will be good for both games. Fans who have season tickets to both the men’s and women’s games will be able to sit in their men’s basketball season ticket locations for both games. To purchase tickets, please call the ticket office at 423-439-3878 or visit ETSUTickets.com.

ABOUT THE BUCS

• ETSU enters with a 13-5 overall record following an 0-2 start to Southern Conference play.

• Last night’s loss to Mercer marked the first back-to-back losses for ETSU this season, ending an impressive 16 game stretch without consecutive losses.

• For the third straight week, ETSU is ranked in the College Insider Women’s Mid-Major Top-25 Poll, coming in at No. 23 this week. Prior to this season, ETSU’s last ranking in the mid-major poll was in November of 2010.

• In the last five games, ETSU has won the turnover battle. The Bucs are averaging 19 takeaways per game in that span, while only turning the ball over 11 times per game. 

• As of yesterday, the Bucs are ranked 13th in the nation and first in the SoCon in scoring defense with 53.6 points allowed per game. The Bucs are now averaging 60.7 PPG offensively and lead the conference with a 7.1 scoring margin.

• ETSU is 13-0 when outrebounding the opponent and 0-5 when the opponent wins the rebound battle.

• ETSU is 6-3 at home and 7-2 away from Brooks Gym this season. Tomorrow will mark the first game in Freedom Hall since hosting Tennessee in 2019.

• Graduate guard Jiselle Thomas (Norwalk, Ohio) leads the Bucs with 14.7 points per game to rank sixth in the league. She has scored in double figures in six of the last eight games.

• The Bucs are nationally ranked 15th in offensive rebounding with 15.6 RPG, led by the efforts of graduate Jayla Ruffus-Milner (North Hills, Calif.) who ranks 11th in the nation with 4.2 offensive boards per contest.

• ETSU has two rebounders that rank Top 10 in the conference and four in the Top 15. Ruffus-Milner and true freshman Journee McDaniel (New Bern, N.C.) rank sixth and ninth, respectively. Sophomore Jakhyia Davis (Knoxville, Tenn.) ranks 13th and Thomas ranks 15th.

• Milestone Watch: Davis — a three-year member of the program — is 12 points away from scoring her 500th career point and six rebounds away from her 400th career rebound.

• 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 at ETSU and tied legendary coach Dr. Janice Shelton for the best 16-game start in program history during non-conference play.

• 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 BULLDOGS

• Samford enters with an even 9-9 record and a perfect 3-0 record in league play.

• The Bulldogs have won five straight games with wins over Northern Colorado, Birmingham Southern, Western Carolina, UNCG and Chattanooga. The first four came at home, while the Chattanooga win came yesterday on the road in a 58-53 final.

• Samford is 7-1 in home games this season, but 2-8 in road games or neutral site games.

• Outside of conference play, Samford and ETSU have two common opponents — Vanderbilt and Jacksonville State. Samford lost 81-51 at Vanderbilt and lost 75-59 at Jacksonville State. The Bucs defeated both opponents at home.

• Samford owns the top shooting percentage in the league with 44.3 percent from the field, ranking 55th in the country.

• Much like their record, the Bulldogs are essentially even in scoring offense and scoring defense, averaging around 67 PPG in both scoring and points allowed.

• Senior guard Andrea Bailey — formerly Cournoyer — leads the conference with 17.9 PPG. She is 22nd in the nation with 323 total points, while leading the conference in field goals made and field goals attempted. Bailey is also 11th in the nation with 52 total steals for 2.89 steals per game. She is the 2020-21 SoCon Player the Year. The senior guard got married this past December.

• Sophomore center Sussy Ngulefac is averaging 11.0 PPG and 4.3 RPG. She is also one of the leading shot-blockers in the league with 17 total blocks.

• Samford is led by fourth year head coach Carley Kuhns, who came to Samford from her alma mater Valdosta State after three successful years as head coach. She has a career record of 120-80 in seven overall seasons and a 54-51 record at Samford. She was the unanimous 2021 SoCon Coach of the Year and was the 2020 SoCon Co-Coach of the Year in the media poll.

SERIES HISTORY

• Saturday marks the 19th all-time meeting between ETSU and Samford.

• Samford holds a slight edge in the series at 10-8.

• The last four meetings have been split, while Samford has won six of the last 10.

• The series began with a standalone neutral site game in 2007, as Samford won 91-72.

• The second meeting took place when ETSU joined the SoCon in 2015. The teams have met at least twice each year ever since.

• Saturday’s meeting will be the first one in Freedom Hall. ETSU is 4-3 against Samford at home.

• The Bucs won the last meeting in Johnson City, pulling off a 76-69 victory in Brooks Gym last season. Courtney Moore (Gainesville, Fla.) led ETSU with 12 points, six assists and three rebounds, while Aaliyah Vanada (Maryville, Tenn.) and Jakhyia Davis (Knoxville, Tenn.) combined for 17 points.

• The Bucs and Bulldogs have had two postseason meetings in the series, splitting the two. ETSU’s win was a historic one, coming two seasons ago in the 2021 SoCon tournament. The No. 8 Bucs upset the No. 1 Bulldogs for ETSU’s first win over a top-seeded regular season champion since 2005 against Chattanooga.