The Chattanooga women's basketball team will take on East Tennessee State Saturday afternoon at the McKenzie Arena in the Southern Conference opener for both teams.
 
MOCS TOUGH SCHEDULE RANKED FIFTH IN NCAA
The Mocs closed out the non-conference slate with a 5-10 record and sport the fifth toughest schedule in the nation according the RealTimeRPI.com and a 120 RPI. The next closest SoCon team is Mercer with an RPI of 179. ETSU has the second toughest SoCon schedule according to the site at 85.
 
Chattanooga's schedule featured three teams-from the top-rated ACC. The tree teams have a combined 43-4 overall record. NC State is 16-0 record and the last remaining undefeated women's team in the nation. Wes Moore's Wolfpack is ranked eighth in the latest AP Top 25 poll and sits atop the ACC standings. Louisville (14-1), ranked second in the AP Top 25, lost its first game of the season, falling at No. 1 Notre Dame. Virginia Tech is 13-3 overall after starting the season with 13 straight wins.
 
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Site: Chattanooga, Tenn. | McKenzie Arena
Day/Time: Saturday, Jan. 12 | 2:00 p.m.
Series: Chattanooga leads the series 56-23
Last meeting: Feb. 10, 2018 in Chattanooga; ETSU 61, UTC 55
TV: ESPN3
Radio: Real 96.1 FM
Live Stats: GoMocs.com (Sidearm)

TICKETS
Tickets are on sale at the McKenzie Arena box office and online at GoMocs.com. Your women's ticket for all doubleheaders is also a GA ticket for the men's game immediately following. Today's game is the first of five remaining doubleheaders.
 
MOCS vs. EAST TENNESSEE STATE
Chattanooga and ETSU have met 79 times since 1975 in the days of the AIAW with UTC leading the series 56-23. In Chattanooga, the Mocs hold a 28-8 advantage. Last year, the Bucs swept the Mocs for the first time since 1998.
The two began competing in the Southern Conference in 1982 when the NCAA began hosting women's championships. In SoCon regular season play, the Mocs lead the series 33-15.
 
CHATTANOOGA
Probable starters: Bria Dial (2.6 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 0.6 apg); Morgan Hill (5.2 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 0.9 apg); Brooke Burns (6.9 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.3 apg); Rochelle Lee (4.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 0.3 apg); Lakelyn Bouldin (11.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.0 apg).
 
Chattanooga is 5-10 overall with wins over Lee, Hampton, Liberty, Saint Louis and Maine. UTC has the fifth-toughest schedule in the NCAA DI facing three foes from the top-rated ACC: NC State, Louisville, Virginia Tech.
 
Offense: The Mocs average 58.7 points per game and are led in scoring by Lakelyn Bouldin with 11.7 points per game. She leads the SoCon in free throw shooting, making 85.7 percent of her attempts and has a team-best 24 3-pointers. Brooke Burns and Shelbie Davenport each are averaging 6.9 points per game. Eboni Williams has two double-doubles on the year and is averaging 6.7 points per game. Bouldin has a team-best 30 assists and Molly Melton averages 2.4 per game.
 
Defense: The Mocs are averaging 33.1 rebounds per game. Eboni Williams has a team-best 4.7 per game. Arianne Whitaker is averaging 3.4 boards per game followed by Lakelyn Bouldin with 3.3 per game. Molly Melton leads the Mocs with 23 steals on the year and Arianne Whitaker has a SoCon-best 1.4 blocked shots per game.
 
EAST TENNESSEE STATE
Probable starters: Carley Lytton (6.4 ppg, 0.8 rpg, 0.6 apg); Kaia Upton (5.6 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 2.3 apg); Erica Haynes-Overton (15.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 3.6 apg, 4.4 spg); Sadasia Tipps (5.0 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 0.1 apg), Lexus Spears (7.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 0.1 apg).
 
The Bucs have played the 85^th toughest schedule in the country among Division I schools according to RealTimeRPI.com. ETSU started the season off with eight straight losses that included Cincinnati, Michigan State, South Carolina and Rutgers. The Bucs snapped their streak against former Southern Conference foe Appalachian State at home at the end of November. Other losses include Houston, Duquesne and Tennessee. Eleven different players have made starts for ETSU.
 
Offense: The Bucs average 65.4 points per game and 12.8 assists per game. Erica Haynes-Overton leads ETSU with 15.9 points per game and is shooting 42 percent. She has a team-best 57 assists. Micah Scheetz is second on the team with 8.4 points per game in 11 games played this season. Raven Dean has made 11 starts and is averaging 7.5 points per game. Brittney Snowden, with eight starts in all 16 games, averages 7.4 points and Lexus Spears is shooting 60 percent from the field with 7.3 points per game.
 
Defense: Erica Haynes-Overton is second in the nation for steals with 70 and steals per game with 4.4. ETSU is 30^th in the nation for total steals with 157 and 47^th for turnovers forced at 20.06 per game. Sadasia Tipps leads ETSU with 5.6 rebounds per game and 15 blocked shots. Brittney Snowden is averaging 5.2 rebounds per game with 50 on the defensive end. Lexus Spears has 11 blocked shots and Kaia Upton has 25 steals on the season.