UTC Wins SoCon Opener 66-57 Over Mercer
(gomocs.com)
CHATTANOOGA — Chattanooga women’s basketball got off to a perfect start its Southern Conference slate on Wednesday, as the Mocs were able to take down Mercer 66-57 in McKenzie Arena to start off 1-0 as conference play now picks up across the SoCon.
The Mocs (13-3, 1-0 SoCon) saw a couple of slightly shaky stretches in the first few and last few minutes of the game, but a solid overall team performance with extra help from a combined 34 points from Jada Guinn and Raven Thompson helped guide UTC to a win in its conference opener against the Bears (6-11, 0-1 SoCon).
Chattanooga came out of the blocks a little slow to open the night, as UTC trailed Mercer for much of the opening five minutes of action. Despite being down, the Mocs remained within striking distance, and it wouldn’t take much longer for that strike to happen. Primarily on the back on Guinn, the Mocs would rip off a 10-0 scoring run that eventually saw UTC ahead 19-13 at the conclusion of quarter one.
After another slow start to the second quarter saw things level at 23-23, a resilient Mocs squad battled its way into halftime with a 37-32 lead, thanks in large part to Hannah Kohn seeing three-pointers go in on three consecutive possessions for the Mocs.
The third quarter proved dominant for the Mocs on both sides of the ball, as a fired up Chattanooga team came out of the halftime locker room out for blood. Besides clamping up the Bears to just six points in the quarter, the fewest allowed by UTC this season in the third quarter, the Mocs surged their way up to a 53-38 lead as time expired in the third. Chattanooga was now just 10 minutes away from notching their first SoCon win of the season to their belt.
To open the fourth, UTC would score the first six points of the frame, jumping out to a 21-point advantage on Mercer with only 8:15 left to play. While the lead was daunting, the Bears weren’t ready to leave Chattanooga quietly.
Mercer went on to close out the final eight minutes of action on a 19-7 scoring run, taking the Mocs’ lead all the way down to single-digits. However, even Mercer’s best efforts weren’t enough to close the sizable gap put between the Mocs and Mercer, as Chattanooga came away with the 66-57 win to open up their SoCon season.
Standout Jada Guinn continued her dominance in the scoring department, pacing the Mocs with a team-high 20 points on the night. Raven Thompson also proved crucial for UTC down the stretch, as the sophomore ended up finishing a rebound shy of her second consecutive double-double for the team (14 points, nine rebounds).
