CHATTANOOGA 13-4, 8-0 SoCon
Head Coach: Wes Moore (Tennessee, 1985)
Career: 520-159/23 years • UTC: 320-103/14 years
SCOUTING APPALACHIAN STATE (12-3, 6-1 SoCon)
The defending Southern Conference champion Appalachian State Mountaineers are 12-3 on the year with a 6-1 Southern Conference mark after falling to Davidson last week. The Mountaineers have not faltered often this season with its two non-conferences losses coming at Virginia and Georgia. ASU started the league season defeating Georgia Southern at home by nearly 20 points and followed it downing Western Carolina by 36 points on the road. The Mountaineers continued to plow through the league with wins against College of Charleston, Elon and UNCG before falling to the Wildcats. In its last outing Appalachian State outlasted a surging Wofford team with a 59-58 win on the Terriers home court. ASU leads the SoCon in scoring with 67.9 ppg and scoring margin, outpacing its opponents by 8.5 points per game. On the boards, the Mountaineers are second in the league and blocked shots and have a SoCon-best 4.87 turnover margin. Anna Freeman leads the conference in scoring with 16.5 ppg and steals with 4.1 per game and has 6.5 rebounds per game. Courtney Freeman is second on the team in scoring with 13.2 ppg and has 5.9 rpg. Kelsey Sharkey has a team-high 7.1 rebounds per game and Chakeitha Weldon has a team-high 53 assists.
LAST TIME OUT
LADY MOCS GET EIGHTH SOCON WIN WITH 74-68 VICTORY OVER SAMFORD
UTC senior Whitney Hood led three Chattanooga players in double figures Wednesday night at the McKenzie Arena to lead the Lady Mocs to a 74-68 Southern Conference women's basketball win over Samford. The Lady Mocs improve to 13-4 overall and remain undefeated in SoCon play at 8-0 while the Bulldogs saw a four-game win streak snapped, falling to 10-7 overall and 5-3 in league action. Hood, the reigning SoCon Player of the Week, led all scorers with 21 points, marking her third straight game with more than 20 points. She added five rebounds and two steals. Juniors Kayla Christopher and Kylie Lambert each scored 12 points. Lambert also had a game-high seven rebounds and tied her season-best with four assists. Chattanooga got out to a 9-2 start before the Bulldogs managed to tie it up 9-9 a few minutes later. Samford would tie it again, but Chattanooga would regain the lead and carry a 37-30 lead into intermission and never trail in the game. Three times in the second half the Bulldogs cut Chattanooga's lead to just two points with the last coming at the 4:57 mark on a jumper from Jazmine Powers to make it 61-59. Chattanooga answered that with six straight points to get out to a 67-59 lead with 2:44 to play. With 1:52 on the clock, Samford sank a pair of free throws by Powers before calling time to strategize its next move. Both teams missed 3-point attempts before senior Tenisha Townsend's shot clock buzzer beater under pressure broke the 70-point mark for the Lady Mocs making it 70-61 with 46 seconds to play. Down the stretch the Lady Mocs, who started the game making their first 10 free throw attempts, went 4-for-8 from the charity stripe but held on for the win. The Lady Mocs outscored the Bulldogs 30-20 in the paint and had a 19-9 advantage in bench points. Sophomore Alex Black went 5-for-6 from the free throw line and had eight points while sophomore Faith Dupree put in six on 3-of-5 shooting in nine minutes while sophomore Meghan Downes, who hit a huge 3-pointer midway through the second half, had five points. Townsend tied her season-high with six assists. Samford had four players in double figures lead by Paige Anderson's 16 points. Powers had 14 points and a team-high six rebounds while Ruth Ketcham had 11 points, six rebounds and four assists and Taylor Reece scored 10. UTC gave up 11 3-pointers to the Bulldogs, the most this season by an opponent. Samford won the turnover battle, forcing 11 from Chattanooga while giving up just seven of its own. The Lady Mocs outrebounded the Bulldogs 37-27 and shot 50 percent (25-50) from the field. After a hot start at the free throw line, the Lady Mocs ended up making 16-of-23 (69.6%).
DECEMBER TO REMEMBER
After falling twice over the Thanksgiving holiday in Cancun, Mexico at the Cancun Challenge, the Lady Mocs went a perfect 6-0 in December. UTC posted Southern Conference wins over UNCG, Elon and Western Carolina and defeated non-conference foes Kennesaw State, Belmont and, former SoCon rival, ETSU. In the month, the Lady Mocs outscored opponents by 19 points per game and posted an 11.8 rebound margin.
DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Taylor Hall
Nov. 11 vs. UAB 13 pts, 10 rbs
Dec. 3 at Elon 11 pts, 10 rbs
Jan. 15 vs. Furman 10 pts, 15 rbs
Whitney Hood
Nov. 11 vs. UAB 11 pts, 10 rbs
Jan. 15 vs. Furman 21 pts, 11 rbs
Kylie Lambert
Nov. 25 vs. Cincinnati 16 pts, 13 rbs
OPENING UP
The Lady Mocs are 24-5 all-time in their SoCon opening games. UTC has won 14 of its last 15 SoCon openers, seven of which were played in Chattanooga and all with Wes Moore at the helm. In UTC's SoCon home-openers over that time, the Lady Mocs are 25-4 and defeated Western Carolina in this year's SoCon home opener. Chattanooga has gone undefeated three times, all during Moore's tenure with UTC including one 20-0 season.
HOT FROM BEYOND THE ARC
UTC has gone 386 consecutive games with at least one 3-pointer, dating back to December 31, 1999 against Appalachian State in Wes Moore's second season. Chattanooga broke its own Southern Conference and school single game 3-point record with 16 treys in a televised game against Georgia Southern on Dec. 4, 2010. The previous record of 15 was reached twice by the Lady Mocs and once by Samford. The most UTC has made in a season was 257, accomplished twice with the latest coming in 2009-10.
HOOD NAMED SOCON PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior Whitney Hood scored a season-high 24 points against Wofford and recorded a double-double against Furman for an average 22.5 ppg and 8.5 rpg to be named the SoCon Player of the Week. Hood leads the league in field goal percentage (52.8) and is ranked 35th in the NCAA in that category. She is sixth in the SoCon in scoring (13.1) and 10th in rebounding (6.5).
HOOD, HALL COMBINE FOR DBL-DBL
Whitney Hood and Taylor Hall teamed up for their second double-double performance of the year. Hood had 21 points, 11 rebounds against Furman while Hall had 10 points and 15 rebounds. The two also combined against UAB in the season opening WNIT game at the Roundhouse.
HOOD PUTS UP SEASON-HIGH NUMBERS
Senior Whitney Hood scored a season-high 24 points against Wofford in the McKenzie Arena. She went 10-for-12 from the free throw line, tying her career-high for made free throws.
HALL PULLS DOWN CAREER-HIGH 15 REBOUNDS
Sophomore Taylor Hall topped her previous career-best in rebounding with 15 against Furman on Jan. 15 at the Roundhouse. It is her ninth game with double-digit rebounds and fourth straight. She had 13 against Wofford on Jan. 13 and 12 boards twice this season (UNCG, GSU) and has eight or more 12 times.
DUPREE HAS CAREER NIGHT AT UTK
Sophomore Faith Dupree, a transfer from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, faced her former team in just her fifth game on the Chattanooga bench and posted a career-high 17 points.
LADY MOCS SOLID DEFENSE
For the first time in UTC history, the Lady Mocs held their opponents to 46 points or less in four straight contests. Chattanooga allowed UNCG and Elon just 46 points in the SoCon opening weekend and followed that with 39 points allowed to Kennesaw State and 42 to Belmont three nights later.
HOOD HITS 1,000-POINT MARK
Against Indiana State, senior Whitney Hood scored 13 points and topped the 1,000-point mark for her career spanning two schools, 95 games and four seasons. After two years with Clemson, Hood made the move to UTC and brought along 394 career points. Last season, her first with the Lady Mocs, she scored 584 points, ranking sixth on the single season scoring chart. She led the Southern Conference in scoring last season with 18.8 points per game and was second in field goal percentage making 52.5 percent of her shots.
DOWNES HAS RECORD NIGHT AT ETSU
Sophomore Meghan Downes went 4-of-6 from the 3-point line for a career-best 4 treys and recorded a career-high 19 points to lead the Lady Mocs to a 88-80 win at ETSU.
HOOD TIES CAREER REBOUND NUMBERS
Senior Whitney Hood tied her career-high with 13 rebounds against Western Carolina on Dec. 19. She had 11 defensive boards and two on the offensive end.
TOWNSEND ENTERS UTC 3-POINT TOP 10
With her third 3-point bucket at Indiana State, senior Tenisha Townsend entered the Lady Mocs Top 10 for 3-pointers made with 109, sharing the spot with Terri Brock (1997-2000). With her fourth in the same game, she took over the spot on her own. She has 120 and is ninth all-time.
CHRISTOPHER CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Junior Kayla Christopher continues her climb through the Lady Mocs all-time Top 10 3-pointers made chart. She is seventh on the list with 148 after passing Laura Hall's (2005-08) 145 and is 1 away from sixth place Nneka Irons' (2000-03) 149. She has 29 on the year.
BACK-TO-BACK DOUBLE FIGURE REBOUNDS
Junior Kylie Lambert recorded her third straight double-digit rebounding game in UTC's win over Elon, and her fourth for the season. She is tied for fifth in the league standings for rebounding with 7.5 per game.
LAMBERTS POSTS DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Junior Kylie Lambert recorded a double-double in the Lady Mocs loss to Cincinnati with 16 points and 13 rebounds. She scored 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, in the final 7:47 of play while recording two assists and three offensive rebounds.
CHRISTOPHER EXPLODES IN SECOND HALF
Junior Kayla Christopher reeled off 22 second-half points to lead Chattanooga to a 21-point win over Indiana State in the WNIT consolation bracket game. Christopher was held scoreless in the first half but went 8-for-9 in the second half with four 3-pointers for her best offensive output of the season.
IT'S A LONG ROAD HOME (AND AWAY)
After opening the season at home on Nov. 11, the Lady Mocs will not see home again untile December 12. In a three-week span, the Lady Mocs will play six games on the road beginning Nov. 13 and ending Dec. 3 traveling a great distance over that time. UTC began the travel on a bus to Birmingham to catch a flight to Dallas. After a bus trip back and forth between Dallas and Waco, Texas, UTC flew back to Chattanooga through Atlanta. The Lady Mocs then boarded a bus to travel to Terre Haute, Ind., and back and next off to Atlanta by bus for catch a direct flight to Cancun, Mexico. After returning to Chattanooga by reverse route, the Lady Mocs step into Southern Conference action at UNCG and then Elon on the same trip by bus into North Carolina. The mileage is approximately 5,375 miles.
NCAA IMPLEMENTS CHANGES ON COURT
There will no longer be a confusion on the court with two 3-point lines. The NCAA women's basketball committee voted to push the women's 3-point line back to be even with the men's line at 20-feet nine inches. The NCAA has also implemented a "charge arc" under the basket. Defenders can not stand inside or on the line of the arc to take a charge. This will be ruled a block.
UTC SELECTED TO REGAIN SOCON CROWN
Despite a third place finish last season, the Lady Mocs were selected by the Southern Conference coaches and media to regain the SoCon crown. Chattanooga has won 17 regular season titles since the league started women's basketball competition in 1984. Prior to last year, the Lady Mocs had won 11 consecutive titles and were just one of three teams in NCAA history to accomplish the feat. UTC returns 10 letterwinners from last year's squad including four starters. Senior Whitney Hood and fellow All-Conference honoree junior Kayla Christopher return along with four-year starter Tenisha Townsend at the point and all-tournament selection Kylie Lambert. Chattanooga received nine of 11 possible first place votes by the SoCon coaches for an overall 99 points. 2010-11 SoCon Regular Season Champ Appalachian State received the remaining two for 88 total points. Elon was selected third in the preseason standings with 76 points while SoCon Tournament winner Samford was picked fourth with 71 points. In the media poll, the Lady Mocs received 12 first place votes and 228 points, edging the Mountaineers who garnered eight votes and 221 points. Samford was picked third by the media with one vote and 191 points while Elon was fourth with 170 points. Furman received the last first place vote, finishing fifth in the polling with 133 points.
DUPREE JOINS TEAM IN DECEMBER
Sophomore Faith Dupree transferred to Chattanooga from Tennessee last December following the Fall exams and became eligible to play after the 2011 exams. She made her debut for the Lady Mocs at home against Kennesaw State on Dec. 12.
DEWART MAKES MOVE TO UTC
The name and the face are familiar to UTC fans. Transfer Ashlen Dewart was wearing a different uniform the last time she played at the McKenzie Arena. The younger sister of former Lady Moc Bailey Dewart made the move from Appalachian State to UTC over the summer. The All-Conference performer will have to sit out the season due to NCAA transfer rules. Dewart was fifth in the league in scoring last season with 15.6 points per game and was ninth in rebounding with 6.4 per game. However, she led the league in field goal percentage making 53.4 percent of her attempts.
MOORE TOPS 500 WINS; 300 AT UTC
The Lady Mocs defeated the College of Charletson on Monday, Jan. 31 to hand Wes Moore his 500th career victory. He becomes just the 43rd NCAA Division I coach to reach that milestone and was the ninth fastest to do so in just 652 games. The win was also Moore's 300th victory at Chattanooga and he became the first coach in Southern Conference history to reach 200 regular season league wins.
HOOD, CHRISTOPHER ON PRESEASON TEAM
Senior Whitney Hood and junior Kayla Christopher were selected to the SoCon preseason all-conference team by the league coaches. Hood led the league in scoring last season while Christopher was Chattanooga's top 3-point shooter with 63. She entered the Lady Mocs' all-time Top 10 chart with 119, ranking eighth.
WNIT FEATURES THREE TOP 25 TEAMS
The nation's top two teams could met Sunday, Nov. 20 in the Preseason WNIT finale. No. 1 Baylor and No. 2 Notre Dame had similar runs through the tournament with each team scoring no less than 80 points. Baylor defeated Howard (82-28) then got past Chattanooga (91-31) before dispensing with No. 22 UCLA (83-50). No. 2 Notre Dame defeated Akron (81-61) in its opener then blew by Indiana State (99-34) before beating Hartford (98-43) in the semis. Baylor got past the Irish 94-81 to claim the title. Chattanooga defeated UAB in the opener before traveling to Waco, Texas to take on the Bears.
MOORE ADDS TWO IN EARLY PERIOD
Four-star guard, as rated by ESPN HoopGurlz, Tatianna Jackson of The Lovett School in Dallas, Ga., signed her NLI Wednesday to play basketball for the Lady Mocs next season. Joining her is three-star rated point guard Alicia "Red" Payne of White Station in Memphis. Both recruited by schools in conferences such as the SEC, ACC and Big East, picked UTC.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL IN McKENZIE
The Lady Mocs played their first game in the UTC Arena on Dec. 3, 1983 and posted a 74-66 win over Tennessee Tech. Over the next 15 years, the Lady Mocs continued to call Maclellan Gym home and played just a handful of games in the Roundhouse. However, with the arrival of Wes Moore in 1998, the women made the move to the arena playing half of the 1998-99 schedule in the larger building. By Moore's second season, all but two of Chattanooga's home games have been played at the McKenzie Arena. Those two games were both played in the 2004-05 year. UTC has now topped the 200 mark for games played in the Roundhouse since that first year and have a 173-43 record spanning three coaches and 28 years. UTC is 7-0 at home this season.
HOT HISTORY AT HOME
The Lady Mocs went 9-6 overall at home last season with a win over Georgia Southern that was televised and saw the Lady Mocs drain a SoCon record 16 3-pointers. According to RPIRatings.com, the Lady Mocs have posted a 115-22 (.8394) record in the McKenzie Arena since the 2001-02 season, Moore's fourth year, through last season. That ranks ninth among all Division I women's teams with Tennessee holding the top mark with a 341-20 mark (.9446).
LADY MOCS PLAY 38TH SEASON
2011-12 marks the 38th season of varsity women's basketball at Chattanooga. Through 37 years UTC's record is 690-398. In 1974, Grace Keith was named the head coach of the Mocettes. Over two years, she posted a record of 21-23. Sharon Cable Fanning, a former player, followed and changed the nickname to Lady Mocs. In 11 years she led UTC to four SoCon titles and the 1984 WNIT finals. Craig Parrot led Chattanooga for 11 season and took the Lady Mocs to their first NCAA tournament. During his tenure UTC won one SoCon title, two tournament crowns and went to the NCAA two times. Wes Moore returns for his 14th season. He led UTC to 11 consecutive crowns, 11 straight 20-win seasons and 11 consecutive postseason appearances including eight NCAA tournament appearances.
LADY MOCS ON THE AIR WITH LARRY WARD
For the 11th straight year, Larry Ward, "The Voice of the Lady Mocs" will broadcast each and every Chattanooga women's basketball game. This season, the Mocs Sports Network will air most games on the UTC flagship station ESPN Radio 105.1 The Zone. When the men's and women's times conflict, they will broadcast on WPLZ 95.3 FM. Stick around after the women's games and listen to Ward and Head Coach Wes Moore discuss the stats and plays. The postgame show is broadcast live over the public address system at the McKenzie Arena except on doubleheaders.
INDSIDE CHATTANOOGA BASKETBALL
Get a look at Chattanooga women's basketball with insights from Lady Mocs Head Coach Wes Moore. The show airs weekly alternating between the Mocs and Lady Mocs. The show will air at 11:05 Wednesday nights on Fox 61 and will re-air at midnight Friday on MyNetworkTVChattanoga (channel 8 on EPB and 226 on Comcast). Also available on EPB Fiber Optics Video On Demand Service.
Shows featuring Coach Moore
• Jan. 4, 18
• Feb. 1, 15, 29
CHAT WITH THE MOCS
Throughout the season, head coaches Wes Moore and John Shulman will participate in a live, interactive radio show hosted by the Voice of the Mocs Jim Reynolds. The shows will be aired live at one of two Buffalo Wild Wings locations, downtown or Hixson.
•DOWNTOWN
Jan. 24
Jan. 31
•HIXSON
Feb. 7
Feb. 14
Feb. 21
Feb. 28
•DOWNTOWN
Mar. 6
Mar. 13
Mar. 20
Mar. 27
