Thursday, March 28, 2024
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WBB-FCS: UNC-Greenville Spartans (10-10) at East Tennessee State Buccaneers (16-6)

For the second time this season, ETSU women’s basketball will make an appearance in Freedom Hall on Saturday when the Bucs welcome Southern Conference rival UNCG to Johnson City. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m.

Much like two weeks ago, Saturday will serve as a doubleheader day for the ETSU women’s and men’s basketball teams. The men will follow the women at 4 p.m. as they host Chattanooga for a much-anticipated in-state rivalry game.

ABOUT THE BUCS

  • ETSU has a 16-6 overall record and an even 3-3 conference mark.
  • Yesterday’s 70-39 win over Western Carolina guarantees ETSU a winning record in regular season games.
  • In the last three games, ETSU has outscored Furman, Wofford and Western Carolina by a combined score of 71-29 in the third quarter.
  • For her efforts last week, sophomore guard Kendall Folley (Lebanon, Ohio) was named the Southern Conference Player of the Week. Folley is ETSU’s first weekly honoree since 2019. The sophomore finished with 32 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists on the week while matching single-game career highs in points (17) at Wofford and assists (6) at Furman. She also had just three turnovers over 67 minutes of action for a 2.7 assists/turnover ratio.
  • For the last six weeks, ETSU has either received votes or been ranked in the College Insider Women’s Mid-Major Top 25 Poll. For a second straight week, ETSU is outside the top 25 but received 12 votes last week and 21 votes this past Tuesday.
  • The Bucs finished non-conference play with a 13-3 record ā€” 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 ā€” 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 16 this season under first year Buccaneer head coach Brenda Mock Brown.
  • ETSU is currently leading the nation in win improvement from last season to this season with 10 wins. Three other teams are tied for second with nine, including Virginia, UIC and Illinois. The highest win-improvement last season was LSU, who had a 12 win difference from 2020-21 to 2021-22.
  • The Bucs are averaging 61.8 points per game, while ranking 13th in the nation with just 53.9 points allowed per game. The Bucs also rank 10th in the nation in offensive rebounding with 15.7 per game.
  • ETSU has shot at least 40 percent in each of the last three games. The Bucs are 10-0 when shooting north of 40 percent and are 13-0 when outshooting their opponent.
  • In the last nine games, the Bucs have finished with fewer than 13 turnovers in each game. Meanwhile, the ETSU defense is producing 17 takeaways per game in that span.
  • The Bucs are 7-4 in home games this season, but are 0-1 at Freedom Hall.
  • Graduate guard Jiselle Thomas (Norwalk, Ohio) leads the Bucs with 15.1 points per game to rank fifth in the league. She has scored in double figures in 10 of the last 12 games. She also has five games with 20 or more points, and ETSU is 5-0 in those games. The most recent one came last night as Thomas dropped 21 points against Western Carolina.
  • Jakhyia Davis (Knoxville, Tenn.) ā€” a three-year member of the program ā€” had her 400th career rebound last Thursday at Furman and her 500th career point last Saturday at Wofford. Davis also had her first double-double of the season in the Wofford game with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
  • Over the last 11 games, sophomore Courtney Moore (Gainesville, Fla.) has made at least one three-pointer and is shooting a combined 25-62 for right at 40 percent in that span. On the season, Moore is 36-107 for roughly 34 percent.
  • The Bucs are 7-4 in home games this season, but are 0-1 at Freedom Hall.
  • 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 SPARTANS

  • UNCG enters with a 10-10 overall record and an even 3-3 record in league play.
  • UNCG and ETSU are tied in the league standings with matching 3-3 records. Both teams own wins over Western Carolina and Furman, while the Spartans also hold claim to a win over Mercer.
  • The Spartans are coming off a 67-46 loss at Chattanooga yesterday.
  • UNCG averages 67.1 PPG while allowing 64.2 PPG.
  • Graduate guard Akira Wiggins leads the team with 11.4 PPG, while senior Faith Price averages 11.0 PPG. Price ranks among the nation’s top 15 players in three-point attempts (8th), three-pointers made (13th) and three-pointers per game (15th).
  • Junior post Khalis Cain is the leading rebounder and shot blocker in the SoCon, leading UNCG with 9.4 rebounds per game and 30 blocked shots this season. She also ranks fourth in the nation with nearly five offensive rebounds per contest.
  • The Spartans are led by veteran head coach Trina Patterson. In her fifth season at UNCG, Patterson owns a record of 94-106. Patterson started her head coaching career at William & Mary from 1991-99, then spent one season after that at Maryland Eastern Shore. She spent eight additional seasons at UAlbany before a pair of assistant jobs at Stanford and Old Dominion led her to UNCG. She has 243 wins over 22 seasons as a head coach.

SERIES HISTORY

  • Saturday marks the 42nd meeting between the schools.
  • The all-time series between ETSU and UNCG is a tight one with ETSU holding a slim 21-20 advantage.
  • The first meeting took place on Feb. 20, 1970. ETSU won that game, 39-37.
  • UNCG has won six of the last seven, including both games last season.
  • ETSU’s last win at home over the Spartans came on Jan. 24, 2021 ā€” a 58-48 victory at Brooks Gym.
  • ETSU has an 11-6 record at home against UNCG, but a 2-6 record on neutral floors.
  • Saturday will be the first meeting in Freedom Hall between the two programs.
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