HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky women's basketball returns home after the Thanksgiving break to face a familiar foe in East Tennessee State, which played against NKU in the Atlantic Sun Conference. Tipoff is slated for 1 p.m. ET on Saturday, Nov. 26, in BB&T Arena and will be the front end of a doubleheader with the NKU men's team, which hosts North Carolina Central at 7 p.m. The game will be carried out on ESPN3's platform with Andrew Kappes on play-by-play and Branson Cole on color for the Norse. Fans can stream the game live on computers, tablets and smart phones through WatchESPN or the ESPN App.
 
 LAST TIME OUT: NKU took on two-time defending Mid-American Conference champion Ohio on the road for a Monday night game, playing a tight relatively matchup with the Bobcats for the majority of the game before ultimately falling in a 58-41 decision. The Norse were led by Kelley Wiegman as the only double-figure scoring for the team as the senior posted a season-best 13 points. Rebecca Lyttle also had a balanced performance for the team, going 4-for-4 from the field for nine points to go with a game-high 10 rebounds. NKU's effort on the boards was a key factor in keeping the Norse competitive, with NKU outrebounding the Bobcats by a 43-39 margin.
 
NKU VS. THE NATION: With the team easing into its new system under Coach Whitaker, the Norse have already shown strong numbers in a handful of national statistical categories. Most impressively, NKU has been showing disruptive defense at the 3-point line, holding teams to 20.3 percent from long range for the 14th-best 3-point field goal defense percentage among NCAA Division I teams. NKU also ranks in the top-50 in scoring defense, holding teams to just 55.5 points per game for the No. 48 scoring defense in the country.
 
SCOUTING ETSU: The Buccaneers hold a 2-2 record on the young season, with wins over Butler and Winthrop and losses to No. 13 Tennessee and Appalachian State. ETSU has been keeping it tight with its opponents, being outscored by an average of just half a point throughout the four contests. Like the Norse, ETSU has been holding its opponents to low percentages from 3-point range, topping the Southern Conference and ranking 16th nationally at 21.4 percent. The Bucs also boast a tough defensive scheme and force 19.5 turnovers a game to rank second in the SoCon.
  
Individually, ETSU is led by Tianna Tarter and Shamauria Bridges with 17.3 and 13.0 points per game, respectively. Bridges has been the team's main threat from long range, as 10 of her 17 field goals are 3-pointers. Though the Bucs pull down more than 40 rebounds per game, the team shares the wealth with Malloree Schurr doing the bulk of the work with 6.0 rebounds a game.
  
NKU has a brief history with ETSU that dates back to the years when both were members of the Atlantic Sun Conference. The Norse won all four matchups in a two-year span, most recently securing a 58-50 win on March 8, 2014 in Highland Heights.