The battle for a top-five spot in the Southern Conference standings and a bye in the first round of the league's tournament continues Saturday as Appalachian women's basketball heads west to take on East Tennessee State. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. at the Memorial Center in Johnson City. The game will be carried worldwide at www.GoASU.com, beginning with Mountaineer Gameday at 1:30 p.m. David Shumate will call the action with Jonathan Caskey adding the commentary. After solid starts to the SoCon season, both teams have been struggling of late. Appalachian (10-12, 7-8) has fallen into a tie for sixth place after dropping its last three contests, including a 76-68 setback to last-place Wofford on Monday. ETSU (8-14, 6-9) has fared even worse, losing five consecutive games while falling into an eighth-place tie with Western Carolina. Six-foot-two senior forward Tiffani Mayes has had a stellar year in leading the Bucs and the SoCon by scoring 19.6 points per game. She is also tied with ASU's Danielle Edwards for second in the league with 7.6 rebounds per contest. Senior Lindsay Smith has been on fire lately for Appalachian by averaging 16 points over the last four outings. The Winston-Salem native could also set two career milestones on Saturday, as she needs just 22 points to reach 1,000 for her career and four three-pointers to vault herself into the top spot on ASU's career three-point ledger. The contest Saturday will be the 64th meeting between the two rivals, with Appalachian holding a 36-27 edge in the all-time series. ASU used a stellar defensive performance to neutralize Mayes and claim a 51-47 win over ETSU on January 15 in Boone. Head coach Adrienne Shuler is 3-2 all-time versus the Bucs while ETSU mentor Karen Kemp is 11-12 against the Mountaineers.