ETSU women’s basketball rides best start since 1994

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Dec. 3, 2022) – Following a historic win over Vanderbilt this past Thursday, a piping-hot ETSU women’s basketball team continues a three-game home stand against Virginia University of Lynchburg on Sunday, Dec. 4 at 2 p.m. inside Brooks Gym.

The Bucs are off to their best nine-game start since the 1994 season with a 7-2 record, while riding a three-game win streak into Sunday. The 1994 and 2022 season starts are tied for the best in program history since 1980, where the team went 13-2 in the first 15 games.

MATCHUP INFO AND LINKS

Sunday, Dec. 4 – ETSU vs. Virginia University of Lynchburg – 2:00 p.m. – Brooks Gym – Johnson City, Tenn.

ESPN+ / Live Stats / Tickets

BROADCAST INFORMATION

TV Broadcast: ESPN+

TV Announcers: Keith Brake and Bruce Tranbarger

ABOUT THE BUCS

• ETSU earned a win for the ages on Thursday, defeating SEC opponent Vanderbilt by a 44-31 final inside Brooks Gym. The win was ETSU’s first over an SEC team since beating Kentucky in 2008 and the first win over a Power 5 team since beating Wake Forest at home in 2019.

• The win over the Commodores snapped a seven-game skid in the all-time series between the two wins, marking ETSU’s first win over Vandy in 41 years. The Bucs have now defeated Vanderbilt three times — 1980, 1981 and 2022.

• The win over Vanderbilt in 1981 was during the historic 1980-81 season where ETSU started 13-2 under coach Susan Yow. Vanderbilt was the 13th win in that run.

• More history was made in this year’s Vanderbilt game, as a defensive-minded held Vanderbilt to 29 points — just two points shy of a school record for fewest points allowed set in 2006 against Mercer. That same game, a 56-29 win for the Bucs, was previously the record for fewest points combined (85). The Vanderbilt game broke that record with 75 combined points.

• Furthermore, ETSU became just the third mid-major women’s basketball team to hold an SEC team to under 35 points since the 2009-2010 season. The other teams to accomplish this was Princeton in 2019 and Wisconsin-Green Bay in 2012 — both against Missouri.

• ETSU ranks 31st in the nation and second in the league in points allowed per game with just 54.7 per game. Excluding the season-opener against top-ranked South Carolina, ETSU is holding opponents to just 48.9 PPG, which would rank fifth in the nation.

• All seven of ETSU’s wins have come against NCAA Division I competition. Sunday’s game with VUL will be the first non-Division I contest this season.

• The seven wins also surpass last year’s win total in 17 less games.

• Graduate guard Jiselle Thomas (Norwalk, Ohio) leads the Bucs with 15.1 points per game. She scored her 1,000th career point in the season opener against No. 1 South Carolina and ranks among the top five scorers in the SoCon this season.

• Sophomore guard Nevaeh Brown (Charlotte, N.C.) is averaging 11.0 PPG off the bench and led ETSU with 14 points in the win over Vanderbilt.

• Transitioning from guard to post, graduate Jayla Ruffus-Milner (North Hills, Calif.) leads the team with 7.2 rebounds per game to rank fourth in the SoCon.

• In the last game, sophomore point guard Kendall Folley (Lebanon, Ohio) was the player to dominate the boards with 12 rebounds against Vandy. She is now averaging 6.3 PPG and 4.3 RPG over eight starts.

• Sophomore Courtney Moore (Gainesville, Fla.) was a key factor in a win over UC San Diego, hitting three triples for nine fourth quarter points to catapult ETSU to a nine-point win. She also had the game-sealing steal-and-score against Vandy on Thursday and averages 4.8 PPG.

• Post player Jakhyia Davis (Knoxville, Tenn.) joins Moore as the only three-year members of the program this season. Davis is a sparkplug off the bench with a steady 5.3 PPG and 5.8 RPG.

• ETSU has rolled with the same starting lineup for the last eight games, with Folley, Moore, Thomas and Ruffus-Milner joining true freshman Journee McDaniel (New Bern, N.C.). McDaniel is averaging 4.4 PPG and 6.2 RPG to rank among the league leaders in the latter.

• The Blue and Gold are led by first year Coach Brenda Mock Brown, who took over in August. Despite a late arrival to campus, Mock has guided the Bucs to a successful 7-2 record. The seven wins have already surpassed last season’s win total.

• Prior to ETSU, Coach Mock spent eight seasons at UNC Asheville from 2012-20. Mock took the Bulldogs from a two-win team her first season into a back-to-back conference championship winner by her fourth and fifth seasons. She has already more than tripled that UNCA first season win total at ETSU.

• 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 DRAGONS

• Virginia University of Lynchburg is still looking for its first win of the season, entering Sunday with an 0-6 record. VUL is a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA).

• The Dragons fell 92-48 yesterday against Shaw University, an NCAA-Division II in North Carolina.

• In Friday’s game, four of the five starters for VUL went the distance with 40 minutes played.

• VUL is led by Renee Clines with 14.0 PPG. She scored 18 in the last outing against Shaw.

• As a team, VUL is scoring 41.4 PPG and allowing 104.4 PPG.

• One of their six games this season came against NCAA Division I’s Norfolk State. Fellow SoCon member UNC Greensboro will face VUL later this month on Dec. 21.

• VUL is led by first year head coach Darius Jennings.

SERIES HISTORY VS. VUL

• Sunday will be the first official meeting between the teams.

• The game was originally scheduled for last season but was scratched due to COVID-19 concerns that forced VUL to cancel its season.

• Outside of exhibitions, the last time ETSU played a non-NCAA D1 opponent was Newberry on December 31, 2020. ETSU won 69-55. The only current Buc to play that game was Jakhyia Davis.

• The last time ETSU hosted an NCCAA team was Covenant in 1994. Covenant is a dual member of the NCCAA and NCAA Division III.

For more information on Buccaneer women’s hoops, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the women’s basketball tab.