UTC Women Still Unbeaten in SoCon Play After Defeating Samford 55-39
(gomocs.com) BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The Chattanooga women’s basketball team put on a defensive masterclass on the road in Birmingham on Saturday night, with the Mocs holding Samford to a historically low shooting percentage from the floor as UTC cruised its way to win No. 20 of the season, defeating the Bulldogs 55-39.The Mocs (20-3, 8-0 SoCon) remained perfect in conference play after showing out on both sides of the ball to easily handle the Bulldogs (11-12, 3-5 SoCon). The Mocs posted their lowest turnover total since 2019, alongside holding the Bulldogs to the lowest shooting percentage by a UTC opponent since 2008.With the win, the Mocs have now reached 20 wins on the year, marking back-to-back seasons under Coach Poppie that UTC has accomplished the feat. Not only that, but it marks the 23rd time the Mocs have reached 20 wins in a season. Poppie joins former UTC coach Jim Foster as one of only two coaches in program history to record 20+ wins in each of their first two seasons at the helm of Chattanooga women’s basketball.
After allowing Samford to score the opening bucket of the night, it really was all Mocs from that point on as UTC clamped the Bulldogs up for the remainder of the opening quarter to take a 13-6 lead into the second.
The Mocs continued to smother the Bulldogs through the second quarter, holding Samford to another single-digit quarter with only nine points coming from the Bulldogs compared to UTC’s 14. Heading into the half, the Mocs were seemingly on cruise control on defense as they held a 27-15 lead.
Samford’s 15 points in the opening half rank as the second-lowest allowed by the Mocs in a half this season. The fewest in Chattanooga’s game against Tennessee Tech, in which they held the Golden Eagles to just 12 in the first half.
UTC’s defense continued to shine throughout the third frame, holding the Bulldogs to single digits for the third straight quarter. While the Mocs were only able to score 10 points in the third, they still outscored Samford 10-6 in the quarter to carry a comfy 37-21 lead into the final 10 minutes of the night.
While the Mocs finally loosened up their grip on the defensive side of the ball in the fourth, the Bulldogs were never able to dig out of the hole that they found themselves in from the previous 30 minutes. The Mocs ultimately came away with a 55-39 win when all was said and done in Birmingham, proving yet again the importance of good team defense.
Samford would finish the night shooting just 22.8 percent (13-for-57) from the floor. Not only is this the lowest shooting percentage by a UTC opponent this season, but it is the lowest shooting percentage by a UTC opponent since March 7, 2008 when UNCG shot just 20.4 percent (11-for-54).
Not only that, but the Bulldogs’ 39 points stands as the best defensive effort in SoCon play for the Mocs since January 6, 2018 when UTC held Western Carolina to just 32 points. It’s also the fewest points allowed by Chattanooga in a SoCon road game since allowing 39 points to Wofford on February 5, 2012.
Offensively the Mocs took amazing care of the ball, recording just six total turnovers as a team on the night. This turnover total is the fewest UTC has had in a game since tallying six on the road against Samford on January 26, 2019.
It’s hard to point out just one individual effort that got the job done for the Mocs, but two notable performances came from the dynamic duo of Jada Guinn and Raven Thompson. Guinn returned to form on the offensive side of the ball, dropping a team-high 14 points in the win. Thompson on the other hand came away with her seventh career double-double, finishing with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
FROM THE HEAD COACH | QUOTES
On defensive effort and the fourth quarter“We’ve just got to finish better. We’ve been on them about killer instinct. When you’ve got them down, you got to keep pushing and we have a tendency to let off the gas a little bit. I don’t know, maybe we’re tired. I didn’t think we had crazy minutes going, but you know, at the end of the day, we’re pretty proud of our effort. 22 percent from the floor from Samford, that’s pretty darn good defensively. We win on the road, when you do that anytime in this league that’s a good day.” “They’re a good basketball team. They made some shots. I thought they went to Carly (#5), quite a bit there down the stretch. They went small and unorthodox a little bit and then we just had some miscommunication on some ball screen stuff. The press break. We give them, I don’t know, three or four possessions back, so we’ll clean some of that stuff up. It’s just a lack of focus when we think the game’s over with.” On Raven Thompson grabbing important rebounds“She rebounded really well. It’s kind of interesting. I thought her (sic) and Jada [Guinn] were slow for the most part tonight. Raven stayed with it. I’m gonna tell ya, when she’s in her game and she doesn’t always have to be physical. She can be finesse every once in a while because she has all the tools. I thought she went to some of that late instead of trying to be physical. We became productive and she’s such a good player for us. She’s such a good player in this league and we’re fortunate to have her on our team.”
