Chattanooga Women’s Basketball Downs Rival ETSU in 56-41 Road Victory
GoMocs- Chattanooga women’s basketball moved one step closer to the program’s 23rd SoCon regular season title on Saturday, when the Mocs went into Johnson City and came away with a convincing 56-41 victory over in-state rival ETSU.
The Mocs (22-3, 10-0 SoCon) once again leaned on their defense to carry the baton in a hostile environment, with the Bucs (16-9, 5-5 SoCon) only shooting 29 percent from the floor on the day.
UTC is now within striking distance of earning the program’s 23rd SoCon regular season title. With one win over their final four games, the Mocs could clinch a share of the regular season crown while two wins would make the Mocs outright winners and the No. 1 seed for the SoCon Tournament in Asheville.
From the jump, the Mocs defense was buzzing around the floor providing stop after stop for UTC. The Buccaneers wouldn’t score their first point of the game until there was 5:30 remaining in the quarter. Despite this strong defensive start, UTC also couldn’t buy a bucket with the Chattanooga offense stalling after scoring the first five points of the day.
Holding ETSU to just two made field goals in the first quarter, UTC could hang its hat on giving up just eight first-quarter points to the Bucs. Despite this, the Mocs still found themselves trailing through the opening 10 minutes, with ETSU leading 8-7 thanks to a poor shooting effort and a bushel of turnovers by the Mocs.
Both teams were able to find some more offense in the second, as the Mocs turned to Jada Guinn and Raven Thompson to lead the charge while ETSU’s Nevaeh Brown carried the load for the Buccaneers. It was a dead heat for close to six minutes in the second quarter, as both teams traded single possession leads and ties.
However, a late flurry of baskets by the Mocs helped see UTC build up a nice eight-point advantage at the halftime break. With another 20 minutes to play in Brooks Gymnasium, the Mocs were up 28-20 after closing out the frame on a 9-1 UTC scoring run.
Coming out of the break, the Mocs floored it on both sides of the floor, asserting their dominance over the Bucs to continue their run over the next 6:49 of play. The run itself would be 9-2 for the Mocs, putting the combined run including the second quarter at 18-3 in favor of UTC. While ETSU was able to finally find the bottom of the net a handful of times to close out the quarter, the Mocs carried a 41-28 advantage into the final 10 minutes in Johnson City.
Things got a little interesting down the stretch for the Mocs in the fourth frame, as a chaotic press by the Bucs saw UTC’s 15-point lead become eight with 3:06 left on the clock. The Mocs remained unfazed though, with Chattanooga continuing to keep the East Tennessee State comeback at bay. Sigrun Olafsdottir would nail a clutch three-pointer with 1:27 on the clock, proving to be the UTC dagger. With the final score reading 56-41, the Mocs had secured win No. 10 of their SoCon campaign.
Leding the charge yet again for the Mocs was the tandem of Jada Guinn and Raven Thompson. Guinn finished with her sixth double-double of the season after recording a team-high 19 points while tying her career-high in rebounds with 16. Thompson would finished with 16 points and seven boards in the win, including going 7-for-7 from the charity stripe.
