East Tennessee State hosts Carter and Western Carolina

Western Carolina Catamounts (11-11, 1-6 SoCon) at East Tennessee State Buccaneers (13-9, 4-3 SoCon)

Johnson City, Tennessee; Thursday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Western Carolina plays East Tennessee State after Avyonce Carter scored 21 points in Western Carolina’s 71-66 loss to the Mercer Bears.

The Buccaneers are 8-1 on their home court. East Tennessee State averages 60.0 points and has outscored opponents by 5.0 points per game.

The Catamounts are 1-6 against conference opponents. Western Carolina is the top team in the SoCon with 35.7 points per game in the paint led by Tyja Beans averaging 4.0.

East Tennessee State is shooting 39.2% from the field this season, 1.5 percentage points lower than the 40.7% Western Carolina allows to opponents. Western Carolina scores 18.4 more points per game (73.4) than East Tennessee State gives up to opponents (55.0).

The matchup Thursday is the first meeting this season between the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Kendall Folley is averaging 6.7 points for the Buccaneers. Courtney Moore is averaging 13.4 points over the last 10 games.

Jada Burton is averaging 9.5 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists for the Catamounts. Carter is averaging 16.5 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Buccaneers: 6-4, averaging 63.4 points, 28.7 rebounds, 10.4 assists, 8.2 steals and 3.1 blocks per game while shooting 40.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 54.5 points per game.

Catamounts: 4-6, averaging 73.9 points, 32.2 rebounds, 16.2 assists, 6.9 steals and 2.1 blocks per game while shooting 44.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.3 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

By The Associated Press