GREENSBORO, N.C. - UNCG women's basketball (2-10, 0-3)  faces its first road challenge of the SoCon season, preparing for a pair of contests at ETSU (2-8, 0-3) this coming Friday and Sunday. Both teams will be looking for their first win of the SoCon season, while the Spartans hope to expand the current three-game winning streak they have over the Bucs.

Like the Spartans, the Bucs hold two wins on the season, defeating Longwood on the road to open the season and downing Division II Newberry College at home to close out the 2020 calendar year.

Who: ETSU
Where: Brooks Gym | Johnson City, Tenn.
Game 1: Friday, January 22 | 7 p.m. 
Game 2: Sunday, January 24 | 2 p.m. 
Watch (ESPN+) | Live Stats

*This is a notification of a change to the 2020/21 UNCG women's basketball schedule*
The Spartans' January 30th matchup with visiting Wofford will now be played at 1 PM inside Fleming Gymnasium

HOW'S THEIR FORM?
-- Both sides are on a three-game skid to open the Southern Conference season with UNCG falling to Western Carolina and dropping a pair of decisions to Mercer. ETSU meanwhile opened conference play with a loss to Chattanooga and was most recently swept in a two-game series with Wofford
-- This is going to be the Spartans' first road test of the SoCon season, inversely this will be the first time ETSU has hosted since the start of conference play. The Buccaneers are just 1-2 when playing at home in Brooks Gym

SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
-- UNCG has a candidate for SoCon Freshman of the Year with forward Khalis Cain ranking fourth in the conference in blocked shots per game (1.1) and sixth in rebounds per game (6.8), leading all SoCon freshmen and sophomores in those categories. Those numbers go up even higher when you consider that Cain did not become a regular starter until after four games into the season. She's averaging 7.3 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in her eight starts since
-- The Spartans have one of the top-ranked defenses in the conference this year, with their 57.9 points allowed per game trailing only Mercer (57.8) for the top spot in the SoCon. UNCG's scoring defense currently ranks 44th in the country, and recently held the top offense in the conference, Mercer, to an average of 63 points per game this past weekend
-- Senior guard Tori Powell currently ranks fifth in the SoCon with 19 three-pointers on the year. She tied a personal season-high with four threes in game one of last weekend's Mercer series, matching the four that she hit against Tennessee back in December

SCOUTING ETSU
-- The Buccaneers are the top team in the SoCon when it comes to steals, averaging 9.8 per contest. They rank second in the conference with a +1.9 turnover margin
-- ETSU's offense runs through forward Mykia Dowell. The redshirt sophomore leads the Bucs with 10.4 points, 5.8 boards and a .433 shooting percentage from beyond the arc

SERIES HISTORY
-- UNCG is 17-19 against ETSU all-time, but is currently on a three-game winning streak against the Bucs
-- That three-game winning streak can be attributed to the trio of victories the Spartans had over their SoCon rival in the 2019-20 season. UNCG did not allow the Bucs to reach 50 points in any of those games, and knocked out the Bucs in the first round of the SoCon Championship Tournament last year

#letsgoG