GAMEDAY INFORMATION
vs. Samford
Saturday, February 4, 2017 | 2:00 p.m. | Doubleheader
Follow along at GoMocs.com
Live Stats: Sidearm
Audio: Real 96.1 FM
Video: ESPN3

TICKETS
Purchase your tickets online at GoMocs.com or at the McKenzie Arena box office. One ticket may be used for both games - men's or women's ticket. Women's reserved seating is the padded seating on both sides. Men's reserved is the entire lower bowl. If you are holding a women's ticket, please move upstairs to General Admission seating for the men's game. If you entered with a men's ticket, please sit in General Admission seating during the women's game.

CHATTANOOGA vs. SAMFORD
This will be the 27th meeting between the Mocs and the Bulldogs. Chattanooga leads the series 19-7 including a 77-61 win over Samford in Birmingham last month. At home, the Mocs are 

ABOUT CHATTANOOGA
The Mocs retook the lead in the Southern Conference with a win over Mercer at home. The Mocs lead the NCAA in fewest personal fouls per game with 9.9 and lead the SoCon in free throw percentage making 75.4 percent of their atttempts. Jasmine Joyner is one of three UTC players in double figures, averaging 12.1 points per game. She has a league best 9.9 free throws per game.

ABOUT SAMFORD
The Bulldogs are 9-14 overall and 2-6 in SoCon action. They are averaging 55.5 points per game and 29.5 rebounds per game. Samford is second in the league for 3-point shooting with 6.6 per game. Hannah Nichols and Kassidy Blevins are both averaging double figures. Nichols has 50 3-pointers and has a team-best 14.1 points per game. Blevins is second on the team in scoring with 10.2 points per game. Samantha Fitzgeradl leads the Bulldogs with 4.3 rebounds per game.

NOTES

INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Joyner Accolades • Leads the nation in total blocked shots  and blocked shots per game ... continues to smash the Southern Conference record for blocked shots and is now ranked in the NCAA Top 25 ... became the 27th member of the Chattanooga 1,000-Point Club ... entered the Mocs' Top 10 for career rebounds.

Joyner's Block Party Best in the Nation • Jasmine Joyner tied her school record with nine blocked shots against SoCon rival ETSU and propelled herself to first in the nation for blocked shots per game. She is averaging 4.36 per game and also has a nation's-best 96 total blocks. Joyner is ranked 13th all-time in the NCAA with 410 over her career.

Shumpert Strong from Charity Stripe • Redshirt junior Chelsey Shumpert leads the Mocs in free throw shooting. She was 9-of-11 from the free throw line against Mercer at home and 8-of-8 at Samford, making a career-high from the stripe and is ranked 38th in the nation making 86.4 percent of her attempts.

Joyner Named SoCon Player of the Month for January • Senior Jasmine Joyner was the only player in the league to average a double-double in the month (16.6p, 10.6r). She recorded three double-doubles while topping double figures in points and rebounds five times each. She registered 40 blocked shots in the month, nearly quadrupaling the next closest in the league.

Keiana Gilbert Enters Career Ranks • Junior Keiana Gilbert has 58 career blocked shots and is seventh on the Mocs all-time charts.

Bouldin Hot from the Outside • Freshman Lakelyn Bouldin has a team-high 42 3-pointers. She drained a career-high five at UT Martin. The freshman record for 3-pointers made was 56 set by Brooke Hand in 2004-05.

Shumpert Enters Top 10 • Junior Chelsey Shumpert has 143 career 3-pointers and is ninth on the Mocs' all-time list. She needs three to pass Laura Hall (2004-08) for eighth.

Joyner Enters Exclusive Club • Jasmine Joyner scored 10 points against UT Martin and became the 27th member of the Mocs' 1,000-Point Club. She continues to climb the list and is currently ranked 20th, passing Karen Mills (1978-91). She is seventh on UTC's rebounding list.

Joyner Sets Southern Conference Record • Senior Jasmine Joyner broke the record for career blocked shots in the Southern Conference against Maine. She ended the game with 341 over her career, two more than the previous best by Sophia Aleksandravicius (2010-13) of Davidson.

Sister Act • The Mocs are one of 17 Division I teams with a set of sisters on the roster. Both Aryanna and Keiana are juniors with Aryanna gaining a redshirt year after sustaining an injury in her sophomore season. They are one of seven teams with a pair of non-twin sisters this year. Missouri is the only team in the country with two sets of sisters on the roster.

TEAM NOTES
Hands Off • The Mocs lead the nation in fewest personal fouls with 9.9 per game. UTC has had 10 or less 11 times including a season-low five against Stetson and  Wofford.

Taking Charity • The Mocs are shooting .753 from the free throw line this season (238-316). Chattanooga's best season average is .731 (369-505) in 2005-06. Shumpert leads the team making 86.4 percent of her attempts  and is ranked 38th in the nation.

SoCon Foes Not Welcome • The Mocs have won a school-record 47 consecutive SoCon games at home dating back to the 2010-11 season. Chattanooga's last loss was against App. State on Feb. 14, 2011. 

Preseason Poll • The Mocs received votes in the Associated Press Preseason Poll for the second straight year. Last year UTC was 25th in the opening list.

Long-Range Bombers • The Mocs have made at least one 3-pointer in 552 consecutive games dating back to December 1999. Chattanooga reached the 500-game mark against Butler last year.

OPPONENT NOTES
Chattanooga Take on the Best • The Mocs schedule includes five preseason ranked opponents including three Top Four teams. Notre Dame started the season ranked first. The Irish scored a 79-58 win at the Roundhouse on Dec. 27. UTC battled then-No. 2 UConn, coming up short 80-43 on the road and the Mocs fell 63-47 at then-No. 4 Louisville. Chattanooga opened the home slate with back-to-back losses to #19 Florida and #23 Indiana who have since fallen out of the Top 25.

Not Any Easier in the Mid-Major • Chattanooga fell to Green Bay the day after Thanksgiving. The Phoenix are ranked first in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25. They are ranked 24th Associate Press Top 25 and 25th the USA Today Coaches Top 25. In the mid-major rankings Mercer is 10th, Florida Gulf Coast is 17th and Stetson ranks 20th. The Mocs snared a 66-55 win over the Hatters at home on December 5 and fell on the road to the Eagles, 68-55, after a 15-day layoff while beating Mercer 74-56 on the Bears' home court.

Playing at the Hall of Fame • The Mocs were invited to play in the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame Women's Challenge this year. Chattanooga beat Lafayette and Bowling Green in the round robin in Louisville, Ky., before falling to the 4th-ranked Cardinals in the final day. UTC dropped its decision to Maine on November 27 in Springfield, Mass., the Basketball Hall of Fame home.
Mocs Face Rutgers Again • The only time the two teams met was on the Mocs' home court in 2004 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. UTC came away with a thrilling victory against the Scarlet Knights. This year, the Mocs opened the season on Rutgers home court and came away with a second win.

COACH NOTES
There Are Only Two • Jim Foster and C. Vivian Stringer are the only two coaches in NCAA history to lead three different programs to 200+ wins. Stringer at Cheyney (251/12 years), Iowa (269/12 years) and Rutgers (451/21 years) and Foster at St. Joe's (248/13 years), Vanderbilt (256/11 years) and Ohio State (279/11 years).

Foster Climbs into Top 10 • Jim Foster passed Montana's Robin Selvig for eighth on the NCAA all-time wins chart. He has 877 victories through 39 seasons.

Foster Moving Up the List • Jim Foster has 94 wins as Chattanooga's head coach in less than four years. He is 50-3 against the SoCon and is one win away from 400 career conference victories. 

Foster in it for the Long Haul • Jim Foster is in his fourth season at the helm of the Mocs and his 39th season of coaching. He began his career at St. Joe's, moved on to Vanderbilt and had his latest stint at Ohio State. He is just the 11th coach in NCAA history to reach 800 wins. He is also the ONLY coach to advance four different teams to the NCAA Tournament and have four different teams ranked in the AP Poll and Preseason Poll.

Payne Moves Position • After four seasons holding court for the Mocs at point guard, graduate Alicia "Red" Payne earned her degree last spring and is now a student assistant coach for UTC. She graduated with honors as a Social Work major and will continue her studies in that field in graduate school. She was a two-time Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Year and the SoCon Tournament Most Outstanding Player last season.

Goldberg Gets Permanent Post • Jonathon Goldberg spent the last two seasons as the Mocs' graduate assistant coach. This year he moved into a full-time position as the Director of Student-Athlete Development.

Playing the Hall of Fame • On the Mocs schedule this year are four teams headed by national Hall of Fame coahes. Below is a list.
• C. Vivian Stringer, Rutgers
    Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, 2001; Basketball Hall of Fame, 2009
• Theresa Grentz, Lafayette College (Immaculata)
    Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, 2001; Basketball Hall of Fame, 2014
• Geno Auriemma, Connecticut
    Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, 2006; Basketball Hall of Fame, 2006
• Muffet McGraw, Notre Dame
    Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, 2011; Basketball Hall of Fame, 2016 Finalist, 2017 nominee.