Tipoff between the Niners (0-1) and Lady Raiders (0-0) is slated for 6 p.m. ET, and the game will stream on ESPN+.
SCOUTING THE LADY RAIDERS
Thursday is the first game of the season for a Texas Tech squad that finished the 2025-26 season with a 26-8 overall record, and a second-round appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Lady Raiders’ first tournament appearance since 2013, it was Texas Tech’s first time winning a game in the NCAA Tournament since 2005 and the 26 wins marked the team’s most since the 2002-03 campaign. Texas Tech finished fourth in the Big 12 last year with a 12-6 record after a perfect 13-0 run in non-conference action. The Raiders ended the season ranked No. 23 in the final Coaches Poll. A new-look team this year, Texas Tech only returns two players and welcomes 13 newcomers.
SERIES HISTORY WITH TEXAS TECH
Thursday’s game is the first-ever meeting between Charlotte and Texas Tech.
LAST TIME OUT
Charlotte suffered a season-opening setback to Richmond on Monday evening (Nov. 2) at Halton Arena, falling to the Spiders 83-71. Zoe Best turned in her second 20-point game as a 49er, leading Charlotte with 20 points while shooting 7-for-13 from the field and 4-of-9 from three. Isis Johnson-Mosah was close behind Best with 18 points in the loss, and tied Best for the team lead with five rebounds. Charish Thompson had 14 points and Da’Brya Clark had 12 to give the Niners four players in double figures. Johnson-Musah and Clark both came off the bench in the game and contributed nearly all of Charlotte’s bench points, outscoring the Richmond bench, 35-10.
EFFICIENT SHOOTING
Johnson-Musah and Thompson were two of the most-efficient shooters in the American Conference over opening night, shooting 77.8% and 62.5% from the floor, respectively. Johnson-Musah is tied for the best shooting percentage in the American and 63rd in the country while Thompson is ninth in the league. From beyond the arc, Thompson is one of 52 players in the country and three in the conference to not miss a three-pointer while making at least two.
TEAM EFFICIENCY
As a team, the 49ers rank in the top three in the conference in all three shooting percentage categories of field goals, three-pointers, and free throws. Charlotte is second in the conference in three-point percentage (44.4%) and free throw percentage (78.6%) and is third in field goal percentage after shooting 45.6% from the floor on Monday. The Niners have one of the best three-point percentages in the country, ranking 26th nationally in the category.
LOVE FROM THE BENCH
Johnson-Musah’s and Clark’s days scoring on Monday help the Niners produce one of the best bench performances in the country and conference. Charlotte’s 35 bench points are the third-most in the American Conference and rank 68th nationally.
1,000-POINT MILESTONE
Clark entered the season just nine points shy of 1,000 in her career. She totaled 991 points over three seasons at Norfolk State, where she was an All-MEAC First Team and Defensive Team selection her final year. Clark surpassed the 1,000-point milestone in the season opener against Richmond, scoring 12 points in her Niners debut.
CHARLOTTE VS. POWER FOUR OPPONENTS
Texas Tech is the first of three Power-4 opponents this season for the Green and White, with all three games coming in November, The Niners will face both UCF and Texas A&M as part of the Florida Gulf Classic over Thanksgiving Weekend. The Niners played six Power-4 opponents last year and claimed a 66-64 win over UCF on Nov. 9. Before the win at UCF, Charlotte’s last P4 win came at Wake Forest during the 2023-24 campaign in a 69-58 victory. During the 2010-11 postseason WNIT, Charlotte picked up two SEC wins over Florida and South Carolina, and an ACC win against Virginia on their journey to the semifinals.
2025-26 RECAP
Charlotte went 14-18 overall and 8-10 in the American Conference, improving both win totals in year two under Reed. The Niners entered the American Conference Championships as the No. 8 seed and fell by four to No. 9 Florida Atlantic in the first round of the tournament. Signature wins for the 49ers in 2025-26 included a victory over UCF and a home win over Davidson for the 704 Cup.
WELCOME BACK
Five Niners return from last year’s squad in Zoe Best, Taliah Cornish, I’Navia Gage, Caroline Thieland McKenzie Graves. Best started in all but one game for Charlotte last year and averaged 9.2 points per game while finishing third on the team with 14 blocks.
NEWCOMERS
Charlotte has nine newcomers to complement the quintet of returners in Da’Brya Clark, Audia Young, Mariah Sain, Isis Johnson-Mosah, Jazlyn Harris, Alana Rouser, Destinee Salgado, Venus Emusand Charish Thompson.
CRASHING THE BOARDS
Charlotte had the third-best rebounding margin in the American Conference last season at 4.5, ranking 71st in the country. The Niners’ strength was in crashing the offensive glass, leading the conference and ranking fourth in the country with an average of 17.2 offensive rebounds per game. Overall, the Niners were second in the league and 33rd nationally with an average of 40.78 rebounds per game.
ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
Thiel returns to the 49ers after being named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team a year ago. Thiel played in all 32 games last year and had a 3.76 GPA while studying Systems Engineering to take home the academic honor.
Source: charlotte49ers.com
