ETSU Men and Women Clinch First-Ever Shared SoCon Regular-Season Titles

ETSU Athletics announced that, for the first time in program history, both East Tennessee State University’s men’s and women’s basketball teams clinched Southern Conference regular-season championships, a milestone that carries into next week’s SoCon tournament in Asheville, N.C. The ETSU men clinched the outright crown on Feb. 21 and earned the No. 1 seed, while the women secured a share of the title and will enter the bracket as the No. 2 seed. ETSU Athletics invited fans to travel to Asheville for tournament celebrations.

The women sealed their share of the SoCon regular-season championship with a 46-39 road win at Samford, finishing league play tied at 10-4 with Chattanooga and Wofford and earning the No. 2 seed after tiebreakers. Anala Nelson led ETSU in the Samford game with 18 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals, and freshman center Lucia France posted a career-high three blocks. WJHL noted the defense held Samford under 40 points, the fourth conference opponent ETSU limited to that mark this season, and that the win capped a historic conference run in which the Buccaneers finished a perfect 7-0 on the road in SoCon play for the first time in program history. Head coach Brenda Mock Brown reflected on the milestone: “You know, I never won a championship as a player. I’ve been a part of four now as a coach,” and added, “Winning is hard. It’s hard work, and so I just express my gratitude for them, the staff, and the people back home that poured into this team. I’m overwhelmingly proud of this group.”

The men clinched at Bodford Arena with an 87-75 victory over UNC Greensboro that secured at least a share of the league crown, and a later Furman win over Wofford turned that into an outright title, according to game accounts. Mid-Major Madness credited Brooks Savage with leading the Buccaneers to the SoCon crown and highlighted ETSU’s first regular-season sweep of Furman in 32 years, a 78-69 road win at Timmons Arena that featured a 20-4 second-half run and a 5-for-5 stretch from three-point range in roughly five minutes before a crowd of 2,500. That run returned ETSU to the top of the SoCon for the first time since the 2019-20 season after claiming the 2025-26 regular-season crown.

ETSU’s late regular-season schedule included an 82-76 loss at Mercer in the finale at Hawkins Arena, where Mercer shot 52.4% from three and led 49-35 at halftime. Mercer’s Zaire Williams scored 23 points (7-of-9 FG, 4-of-6 3PT), Armani Mighty finished with 10 points and 13 rebounds for his 16th double-double, and Baraka Okojie added 14 points and eight assists; Mercer converted key free throws in the final minute to hold off an ETSU rally that had cut the margin to 74-73 with three minutes remaining.

With favorable seeding, the ETSU women will face UNC Greensboro on March 5 at 1:15 p.m. in Asheville, and the men will open quarterfinal play on March 7 at noon against the winner of Chattanooga vs. The Citadel, which is slated for March 6 at 5:00 p.m. WCYB reported that regular-season success has delivered favorable matchups for both programs as they head to Asheville, and ETSU Athletics is urging supporters to join the Buccaneers for SoCon tournament action.