CHARLESTON, S.C. ? Chattanooga (29-3) captured its seventh Southern Conference women's basketball crown in eight years and its 12th overall with a 71-59 defeat of Western Carolina (25-8) in the finals of the 2008 tournament. The Lady Mocs received the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament with the win.
“First of all, you've got to give a lot of credit to Kellie [Harper] and her team,” Lady Mocs Head Coach Wes Moore said. “They really made the game ugly for us and took us out of things we usually like to do.”
Western Carolina's only and largest lead of the game came early in the game. Chevon Keith hit a layup to put the Lady Cats up 8-5 at the 17:35 mark. However, Chattanooga's Alex Anderson scored six points in an 8-0 run that gave the Lady Mocs the lead for good at 13-8 just two-and-a-half minutes later.
Western Carolina's Jessika Johnson hit a layup, but the Lady Mocs added five more points to their coffers before WCU could score again to make it an eight point ball game at 18-10 with 13:30 to go in the first half.
Chattanooga would put together a 7-0 run to go up by 13 with 10 minutes to play in the half, but would get shut out over the final five minutes of the half. Western Carolina could only muster two points in the drought and the Lady Mocs would hang on to an 11-point halftime lead at 33-22.
”It's a matter of defense,” Moore said. “Our kids stepped up and that kept us in the game. Those last five minutes were like a root canal.”
As painful as the scoring drought was, the Lady Cats made it even tougher in the second half drawing as near as four points.
“We knew it was coming,” UTC senior forward Alex Anderson said. “We knew we had to keep our composure and pull through.”
Anderson scored a game-high 25 points with 14 in the first half. She tallied her 11th double-double of the season and became just the second player in UTC Lady Mocs' history to reach 1,000 rebounds. She closed the night with 1,723 points and 1,001 boards. Anderson was named tournament MVP for the second straight year. She is the only player in league history to be named league Player of the Year and tournament MVP in the same year twice. Only two other players in league history have claimed both in the same year.
Laura Hall at the point, scored a season high 22 points and dished out a game-best four assists. She went 6-for-7 from the free throw line and nailed two crucial 3-pointers, making 7-of-12 from the field.
“She's played extremely well against Western Carolina,” Moore said. “She's played well in big games in general. They did a good job of mixing up defenses and making it more difficult, but Laura's got heart and is going to battle.”
Chattanooga shot 43.9 percent from the field on the night making 25-of-57 including four from long range. The Lady Catamounts were 24-of-65 for 36.9 percent and five from beyond the arc. The Lady Mocs were 17-of-25 from the free throw line, making 8-of-10 in the closing minutes of the game while Western Carolina made just 6-of-9.
“One of the hardest things that you will have to do as a head coach is go into the locker room and talk to a broken-hearted team when you know that's the game they wanted more than anything,” Western Carolina Head Coach Kellie Harper said. “They worked hard for it and Chattanooga was a better team tonight. They are very good and we gave it a hard try.”
While the Lady Mocs await their fate in the NCAA tournament, the Lady Catamounts will likely see postseason play. The win for Chattanooga was its 24th straight. UTEP lost in the Conference USA finals giving the Lady Mocs sole possession of the nation's longest win streak.
Hall joined Anderson on the All-Tournament First Team and sophomore Shanara Hollinquest was selected to the All-Tournament Second Team.
All-Tournament Team
First Team
Alex Anderson, Chattanooga
Laura Hall, Chattanooga
Jessika Johnson, Western Carolina
Tierra Bumbrey, Elon
Kitara McMoore, Elon
Second Team
Shanara Hollinquest, Chattanooga
Nikki Williams, College of Charleston
Emily Clarke, Western Carolina
Ashley Pellom, Western Carolina
Liz Miller, Wofford
Most Valuable Player ? Alex Anderson, Chattanooga
