UTC Women Look to Defend Their SoCon Title

Chattanooga-(WDEF-TV) The Chattanooga Mocs women’s basketball team won the Southern Conference last year with then first year head coach Shawn Poppie.

Now the team is getting ready for season number two. News 12’s Brian Armstrong shows us how they’re all coming together this preseason.

Last year’s Chattanooga Mocs women’s basketball team punched their ticket to the big dance after winning the SoCon conference tournament, but a new season is nearly upon us,

Poppie:”As it’s getting closer and closer, I think the excitement is growing and growing, not only for our team, but obviously that the rest of the sporting teams, um, with what they’re doing. So it’s been a lot of fun this, this fall here a couple of weeks, we’ll be sitting right at this podium following a game.”

There are seven returning players on this year’s team and seven newcomers and the team is working on finding an identity.

Said Poppie:”Seems kind of wild. We’re in year two and you would think that by this time you’ve got it figured out. There’s a plan. Well, there’s a plan, but you’ve got to mesh everything together. And I think we have a lot of really good individual pieces. It’s now our job, my job to make sure we’re doing that together.”

But they will have Sophomore Raven Thompson, who had an incredible freshman season.
Said Poppie:”Obviously, Raven Thompson probably spearheads that with the year she had as a freshman a year ago with being the tournament MVP. She’s continued to get better. Add to her game, but that doesn’t mean everyone who was crucial to last year’s team is back. You lose somebody like, yes, who was with us a year ago, um, who made so many three pointers and big shots and was a big time wing. And now you insert Jada Gwin, who comes from Tennessee Tech was the Ohio Valley Conference tournament MVP. But they’re just two totally different players. So them two trying to play off of each other, uh, race, trying to figure Jada out. Jada is trying to figure Ray out. Yeah.”