Salisbury, N.C. —- The Catawba College women's basketball returns to action following the Christmas break, kicking off action in the 2025 calendar year with a home date with Mars Hill to continue South Atlantic Conference play on Saturday.
THE MATCHUP
- Who: Mars Hill (8-5, 5-4 SAC) at Catawba (8-5, 6-3 SAC)
- Where: Goodman Arena, Salisbury, N.C.
- When: Saturday, Jan. 4, 2 p.m.
- How to follow: FloSports ($) | Live stats
THE HISTORY
- Catawba leads all-time series 52-36
- The Catawba Indians are 30-13 against the Lions inside Goodman Arena
- Catawba has won the last 12 overall meetings in the series and the last 11 at home, last falling to MHU at home in January 2011
BAKER'S DOZEN (PLUS FIVE)
- Nala Baker closed out 2024 with a bang, scoring a team-high 18 points with three triples in Catawba's 71-57 win at Newberry back on Dec. 18
- The senior guard has scored in double figures in eight of her last nine outings, knocking down three or more triples in six of those contests
- Baker is one of two Catawba Indians ranking in the top ten so far this season in three-point percentage; Baker's 39.7 percent ranks ninth, while freshman Bailee Goodlett's 54.2 percent is second in the league
TOUGH TESTS INTO THE NEW YEAR
- Catawba faces stout tests to start the 2025 calendar year, with three straight and four of their first five games coming against top-five opponents currently in the SAC standings
- After fifth-place Mars Hill on Saturday, Catawba travels to second-place Wingate and Coker before later facing the Bulldogs again on Jan. 22 in Goodman Arena
- The only game against a team lower than fifth in the standings is the longest SAC road trip the team will take all year, traveling east to Harrogate, Tenn. to take on LMU on Jan. 18
A FAMILIAR FACE RETURNS
- Mars Hill head coach Emry Tsitouris makes her second trip to Goodman Arena as leader of the Lions' program
- Tsitouris spent two seasons as an assistant under Terence McCutcheon from 2020-22, helping the Catawba Indians to 34 victories in those two seasons and the team's first NCAA Tournament appearance in six seasons
- Mars Hill has steadily been on the rise since her arrival, winning double digit games for the first time in eight years a season ago, while knocking off three nationally ranked teams
SCOUTING THE LIONS
- Like Catawba, Mars Hill also dives into the meat of their SAC schedule in 2025, facing just one above .500 team in conference play, a 10-point loss at Coker on Dec. 7
- MHU opened with six of their first seven games at home, where they are 7-1, but have struggled so far away from western North Carolina, posting just one road win in five tries
- Mars Hill is in led in scoring by breakout sophomore Aaliyah El, who has jumped from 6.8 points per game on 37 percent shooting from the field as a freshman in 2023-24 to a 17.2-points-per-game scorer on 47 percent shooting
UP NEXT
- Catawba hits the road for the first time in 2025 next week, traveling to Wingate for a 5:30 p.m. tip
