UTC Women Pull Away to Defeat Western Carolina in SoCon Tourney Opener
(gomocs.com) ASHEVILLE, N.C. (March 7, 2024) — The No. 1 seeded Chattanooga Mocs women’s basketball team used a strong defensive effort and a late scoring attack to help pull away from No. 8 Western Carolina, 64-43, in the Southern Conference Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon inside the Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville, N.C. With the win, Chattanooga improves to 26-4 on the season and advances to the SoCon Tournament semifinals tomorrow. The Mocs will face the winner of No. 4 Mercer OR No. 5 ETSU at 11 a.m. ET. The Bears and Bucs tip at approximately 5:45 p.m. ET on Thursday (ESPN+). GAME RECAPChattanooga jumped out to a 7-4 lead (6:52) after Sigrun Olafsdottir knocked down the game’s first three following a steal on the defensive end of the floor. Hannah Kohn continued the attack from behind the arc with two triples over the next four-plus minutes, helping UTC build an 18-10 lead with 2:26 left in the opening quarter. The Mocs led the Catamounts 20-12 at the end of the first quarter after forcing five turnovers and earning a 9-0 edge in points stemming from turnovers. Top-seeded Chattanooga knocked down four first-quarter triples and shot an efficient 43.8% (7-of-16) from the floor in total. Back-to-back layups from Olafsdottir and Jada Guinn allowed UTC to double up WCU, 24-12 (9:21), early in the second frame and forced the No. 8 seed into calling a 30-second timeout. The Catamounts responded out of the break with six of the next seven points to pull within seven, 25-18, at the 4:34 mark. A Caia Elisaldez layup followed by a Guinn free-throw gave UTC another double-digit lead, 34-24 (2:14), before Western Carolina capped off the half with four unanswered to trim its deficit to six, 34-28. Kohn led all scorers in the half with 12 on a four-of-six shooting effort from three. The Mocs defense locked down after the halftime break and held the Catamounts scoreless for the first seven-plus minutes to help build a 40-28 lead with under three minutes on the clock. A successful and-one from WCU halted the run before UTC closed the quarter with a 42-31 advantage. Chattanooga saved its best offensive frame of the game for last, outscoring Western Carolina 22-12 behind a 63.6% (7-of-11) tally from the floor and a 57.1% (4-of-7) mark from deep to help pull away for the 64-43 victory. After the sizable win, 14 of the 26 (34.6%) wins this season have now come by 16 or more. UP NEXT – SoCon Tournament Semifinals – vs. No. 4 Mercer/No. 5 ETSU – Friday, March 8 – 11 a.m. ET
