CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- It's been 25 years since the Chattanooga and Marshall women's basketball teams have met. As rivals in the Southern Conference, the two teams met 36 times with UTC holding a slight 19-17 edge in the series. The teams split the two games played in the 1996-97 season with each winning on its home court.
 
The game at Marshall wraps up a six-game road trip that put Chattanooga on the road for three weeks beginning November 30 at Georgia State. UTC is 3-2 so far on the road swing with losses at Alabama and Tennessee.
 
GAME DAY INFORMATION
Mocs at Marshall
Date: Wednesday, December 21, 2022
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Video: ESPN+
Audio: WFLI | The Varsity App
Live Stats: GoMocs.com
 
CHATTANOOGA vs. MARSHALL
The Mocs and Thundering Herd renew a Southern Conference rivalry 25 years later. UTC holds a narrow 19-17 edge against Marshall and won the last meeting between the two programs. However, in West Virginia, the Herd leads the series 13-4 on their home court. The pair have made it to overtime just once with Marshall claiming a 72-71 win in Chattanooga.
 
THE LAST TIME THEY MET ...
Chattanooga led by former head coach Craig Parrott, beat Marshall 63-60 in Maclellan Gym. The Mocs got out to a 14-8 lead seven-and-a-half minutes into the first half before the Herd struck back with a 9-0 run to take a 17-14 lead just over two minutes later. Marshall led 39-30 at the half. Marshall held that lead more than nine minutes into the second half. Chattanooga tied the game on a jumper by Kesha Carson at the 10:53 mark of the half. Marshall retook the lead at the 7:28 mark but couldn't push the advantage more than five points. The Mocs comeback included 3-of-4 makes from the free throw line and a layup to tie it for the fourth time at 57-57 with 3:32 remaining in the match. UTC made a pair of free throws to take the lead and then 1-of-2 free throws on a technical to go up 60-57 with 1:16 on the clock. A pair of free throws gave UTC its largest lead of the second half, 62-57, with 42 seconds to play. Marshall cut into the lead with a 3-pointer to make it 62-60 with 24 seconds remaining. UTC connected on 1-of-2 free throws just moments later and the Mocs held the lead for the final win in the series as Southern Conference foes.
 
Spring Thompson led all scorers with 23 points making 6-of-9 and was 11-of-13 from the free throw line. She had eight of the Mocs final nine points including six free throws. Carlise Oglesby was also 11-of-13 from the charity stripe and was 4-of-13 from the field with 19 points.  Both had a team-best seven rebounds and Kena Watkins dished out four assists. Laura Jones had four steals.
 
PLAYERS TO WATCH
• Yazz Wazeerud-Din leads the Mocs in scoring and three-point shooting. She has scored in double digits 11 out of 13 games and topped 20 points six times.
• Raven Thompson leads the Mocs in rebounding and is second on the team in scoring. She recorded her first double-double at UNC Asheville. She has double-digit rebounds three times.
• Abbey Cornelius became the 30th member of the Mocs 1,000 point club at UNA. She is just the third player at UTC to have 1,000 points, 700 rebounds and 100 blocked shots. She is third on the team in scoring and second for rebounds while leading UTC in blocked shots.
• Addie Grace Porter is third on the team in rebounding and leads the Southern Conference in defensive rebounds. She has a team-best 3.0 assists per game.
 
LAST TIME OUT…
mocs solid at free throw line for win at ohio
The Chattanooga Mocs went on a 10-0 run late in the first quarter to take a four point lead and never looked back. The Mocs defeated Ohio 67-55 Sunday afternoon on the road in non-conference women's basketball action to improve to 8-5 on the year. The Bobcats, led by game-high scorer Yaya Felder, drop to 2-7 overall. Felder had 29 points, 11 in the first quarter. The Mocs held her to 11 in the second half and built its lead to double digits late in the third and led by as much as 16 in the final frame. The Mocs' first quarter run was owned by team-leading scorer Yazz Wazeerud-Din who hit back-to-back shots to spark the scoring push. She capped it off with a 3-pointer to put UTC up 17-13 with 1:32 to play in the period. Chattanooga outscored the Bobcats in each quarter and led 32-27 headed into halftime. Ohio got as close as 36-34 at the 6:53 mark of the third, but Chattanooga would outscore the Bobcats 11-3 over the next four minutes to build its lead to double figures, 47-37, with 2:40 to play in the quarter. The fourth quarter saw the Mocs hold on to the double-figure lead for all but 13 seconds. After a jumper from Ella Pope cut Chattanooga's advantage to 49-40 at the 8:17 mark, Amaria Pugh connected on a free throw to put UTC back up by 10. That was the start of seven straight points for the Mocs to get to the 16-point lead, 56-40, with 5:59 to play. Chattanooga's scoring would go silent for nearly two minutes but its defense only gave up four points in that time. The Mocs pushed the lead back to 16 one more time in the game, getting out front 67-51 with 1:17 to play. On the board, UTC held the Bobcats to an opponent low 19 rebounds and scored 11 points on eight offensive boards. Ohio had just two points on two offensive rebounds. The difference in the game truly came at the free throw line. UTC was 25-of-28, a season-high for the Mocs, while Ohio was just 7-of-10. Chattanooga started the game shooting 58.4% (7-12) in the opening period and closed out the game shooting 50 percent in the final quarter. UTC was 19-of-44 from the field and 4-of-14 from the 3-point line. Ohio was 21-of-46 and 6-of-20 from long range. Wazeerud-Din scored a team-best 23 points, her sixth game this season with topping the 20-point mark. Raven Thompson added 18 points and seven rebounds while Abbey Cornelius had 12 points and a team-best eight rebounds. Addie Grace Porter went 6-of-6 from the free throw line and dished out three assists.