UTC Women Hold Off Kennesaw State 49-43
(gomocs.com) KENNESAW, Ga. — Chattanooga women’s basketball continued its strong start out of the gates of the 2023-24 season on Wednesday night, as the Mocs came out victorious in a 49-43 clash against Kennesaw State at the KSU Convocation Center.
A strong outing for the Mocs (7-1, 0-0 SoCon) during the second and third quarters was enough to push UTC past the Owls (2-4, 0-0 ASUN) on their home floor, with Chattanooga outscoring KSU 31-17 in the middle frames to build up enough of a lead to hold onto win No. 7 of the year.
Both teams exchanged blows in the opening 10 minutes of action in the KSU Convocation Center, as the Mocs were unable to string much together offensively early-on. That, combined with KSU’s Kyndall Golden putting together a dominant rebounding performance for the Owls, saw UTC trailing 11-10 at the conclusion of the first quarter.
The Owls continued to put pressure on the Mocs through their rebounding as the first five minutes of the second quarter ticked away. However, it was at the 2:44 mark of the second that UTC’s offense would hit the gas by going on a 10-0 scoring run to close out the frame that included a buzzer-beating and-one conversion by freshman Caia Elisaldez.
With the late burst by the Mocs, Chattanooga carried a 30-18 lead into the halftime break.
The Mocs kept their distance from the Owls all throughout the third quarter, finding a response to every KSU bucket with one of their own. Up 41-28, UTC was just 10 minutes away from a 7-1 start to the season.
Kennesaw State would have other plans in mind, however, as the Owls came clawing back into the game. Outscoring the Mocs 15-8 in the final quarter of play, KSU threw everything they had left in the tank at the UTC squad. It was ultimately a bend, don’t break scenario for the Mocs as they fended off the Owls to earn a 49-43 victory.
The victory marks UTC’s first win when scoring less than 50 points since the team won 47-32 over Western Carolina on January 6, 2018. The Mocs have also now started the 2023-24 season a perfect 3-0 in true road games to open the year, marking the first time that the Mocs have started 3-0 on the road since 2002-03.
Jada Guinn once again finished just shy of her first double-double with the Mocs, earning team-highs in points (14) and rebounds (9). Guinn also finished tied with Addie Grace Porter and Raven Thompson for the team lead in assists, with each tallying three. Sigrun Olafsdottir also finished in double-digits in UTC’s scoring column, putting up 10 on a 4-for-7 clip.
FROM THE HEAD COACH
On getting the win on the road despite struggling on offense
“It’s the first time all year we’ve had a game where they did a really good job taking away Raven Thompson. She did not have a field goal tonight and obviously we gotta learn how to score when she’s not.”
“They really sucked in and forced her to shoot and for whatever reason she didn’t want to shoot. I don’t know. She became very passive. And we got to learn from it. First time she’s seen that this year.” “To come out with a win, gritty on the road, any win is a good win. On the road is even better. It gives us some stuff to work on, you know. I think some of this today’s a little bit my fault. We had a long trip last week. We tried to ease into this this week as we kind of got back off the road. I’m not sold that I had them prepared well enough for tonight. That’s all on me.” “We still had spurts that were pretty good. A stretch in the fourth we were not, but we got just enough stops, just enough buckets to get out of here with the win. It’s a really good opportunity for us to learn.”
TOP TAKEAWAYS |
– The series between the Mocs and the Owls now moves to 4-2 all-time. UTC has won the last two matchups.– This marks the first road win for UTC over Kennesaw State. KSU entered the game 2-0 all-time when hosting the Mocs, but now sits 2-1.– Chattanooga has now won five games in a row, the team’s longest win streak since UTC won five games in a row during the 2020-21 season.– The last time Chattanooga started 7-1 or better in their first seven games? The 2012-13 season in which UTC started the year 9-1.– The Mocs are now 3-0 in true road games to open the year.– The last time UTC won its first three true road games of a season? 2002-203 when UTC defeated UAB, Alabama State and Louisville all on the road.– UTC has now earned its seventh non-conference win of the 2023-24 season. That matches the team’s total non-conference win total from a year ago (7-8).– With the 49-43 victory over KSU, this is the first time Chattanooga has won a game when scoring less than 50 points since January 6, 2018 in a 47-32 win over WCU.– The Mocs have led all eight games this year at the half.– This is only the second time this year that the Mocs have won by single digits.. The only other non-10+ point win for UTC was against Austin Peay (5 points).
– Jada Guinn has scored 10+ points in all eight games for Chattanooga this season, but Raven Thompson‘s streak of 10+ point games was finally snapped.
– Guinn and Thompson have now accounted for 256of Chattanooga’s 540 total points on the year.– UTC shot exactly 40 percent (18-for-45) from the field. The Mocs have shot 40 percent or above from the floor in every game this season.– The Mocs also shot 41.7 percent (5-for-12) from three-point range tonight. This is the sixth time this season the team has shot above 40 percent from three. UTC won all six of those games.– Chattanooga has now finished with a higher three-point percentage than field goal percentage for the second consecutive game.
UP NEXT: MISSISSIPPI STATE
The Mocs will now face their toughest test yet this coming Sunday, with No. 21 ranked Mississippi State (8-0, 0-0 SEC) coming to town. UTC vs. MSU is set for a 2 p.m. EST tipoff at the Roundhouse and the game will be available on ESPN+ as well as over the radio on 104.3 FM.
