UTC Women Beat Western Carolina and Capture SoCon Championship
(gomocs.com)
CHATTANOOGA — Chattanooga women’s basketball needed the dominoes to fall perfectly on Thursday night, and they did just that and more as the Mocs captured the program’s 23rd Southern Conference regular season title with the team’s 60-56 win over Western Carolina.
The Mocs (23-3, 11-0 SoCon) needed just about every minute of the game to get the job done against the Catamounts (6-21, 1-11 SoCon), but ultimately came away with the team’s 11th conference victory this season in front of the McKenzie faithful. The team’s attention then turned to the video board as they watched second-place Wofford fall to Samford in Birmingham, clinching the outright regular season title as the crowd roared around them.
Things were shaping up to be a slugfest right from the start of the night in the Roundhouse, and the Mocs and Catamounts traded blows all throughout the opening frame. With neither team budging, it was ultimately WCU that would take a 12-11 lead into the second quarter.
The Mocs got an early spark in the second, however, with Hannah Kohn connecting on one of her three three-pointers on the night to help UTC retake the lead. Despite this, the Catamounts remained a thorn in the side of Chattanooga, always having a response to any offensive success the Mocs could muster.
On the shoulders of Jada Guinn, the Mocs put together their best stretch of the night over the final seven minutes of the second quarter, outscoring Western Carolina 8-2 to help Chattanooga carry a 24-19 lead into halftime. Those who were scoreboard watching the results around the league tonight also got an extra boost, as they tuned in to see second-place Wofford was trailing by three points in their game as well.
The Mocs continued to rely on the duo Guinn and Raven Thompson to provide the spark on offense for UTC. While the Mocs started to score the pill more efficiently in the third, the Catamounts did as well as heading into the final 10 minutes of action Western Carolina held a narrow 42-40 advantage, marking just the fifth time this season that the Mocs trailed heading into the fourth quarter.
Both teams continued to swap baskets back and forth with neither side getting any separation from the other as the minutes ticked away in the game. Down to just 3:45 left to play, a pair of free throws by Thompson would once again level the score at 52-52.
From here, Guinn took the game over scoring UTC’s final eight points from the floor and providing the late push the Mocs needed to get past the pesky Catamounts. The buzzer sounded, and the Mocs knew they had secured at least a share of the regular season title as the scoreboard read 60-56 in favor of Chattanooga.
The team’s attention then turned to the video board, as they watched the final seconds tick off of the clock in Samford’s 64-62 victory over second-place Wofford. It was finally official; the Mocs were outright Southern Conference regular season champions, the 23rd time in program history.
Guinn would ultimately finish with 29 points, nearly breaking her career-high of 30 from earlier this season against WCU, along with a team-best nine rebounds. Thompson ended her night with 16 points and six boards for the Mocs.
FROM THE HEAD COACH | QUOTES
Opening Statement“First and foremost, thank you to our administration to our marketing team, Ashley Alletto and everyone involved in making tonight special. Obviously our Pink Game means a lot to us. It was neat to see a lot of pink in the stands. The starting lineups gave me chills and even a little bit of tears in my eyes with the warriors that they got to walk out and run out with our kids. Proud of our kids for the resilient effort. It wasn’t the prettiest of games. I thought we missed a lot of layups and didn’t play our best but we stayed with it and found ways to make enough plays down the stretch to beat a gritty Western Carolina team and then to sit there after the game and watch the board, to clinch our first championship in a regular season was really special. So proud of our kids. Proud of what we’re building here. It’s obviously a great accomplishment, but we still got a lot of work to do. On the seniors – Sigrun Olafsdottir and Jada Guinn“They’re two special, special kids to me. They opened their arms and invited us in when we first got here and didn’t take any convincing even. That’s just who they are as kids. They give everything for not only this program, but also this university. They do everything the right way. For them to celebrate at home, I think that made it even more special in front of our home crowd and fans. We knew we had to win tonight and we were thinking about Saturday and not having a scoreboard to watch. To be able to do it tonight allows Saturday to be really special with Senior Night. Love them kids to death. Some people say you inherited them. They feel like my kind of girls. I’d do anything for them.
