CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The Chattanooga women's basketball team makes its return to The McKenzie Arena for the first time in a month to host Jacksonville State in its final non-conference game of the season.
 
The Mocs are 8-6 overall with its first winning record in non-league play since the 2017-18 season. UTC went 5-5 in the 2020-21.
 
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Mocs vs. Jacksonville State
Date: December 29, 2022
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Site: Chattanooga, Tenn. | The McKenzie Arena
The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Chris Goforth on play-by-play and Todd Agne with the color analysis. Larry Ward will provide play-by-play on WFLI and the Varsity App.
Live stats will be available online at GoMocs.com
 
RECORDS
Chattanooga: 8-6
Jacksonville State: 6-4
 
SERIES HISTORY
Chattanooga leads the series 9-2. Jacksonville State beat the Mocs in Jacksonville 60-56.


CHATTANOOGA vs. JACKSONVILLE STATE
This will be the 12th meeting between Chattanooga and Jacksonville State.UTC leads the series 9-2. The Mocs won the first two games in 1977 and Jacksonville State claimed its first win in 1978 and its second last year. UTC owns a 6-0 record against the Gamecocks at home.
 
THE LAST TIME THEY MET
The Mocs fell 61-51 at Jacksonville State on the road to close out the non-conference portion of its schedule. Chattanooga got off to a quick start, with the first two buckets of the game, including a layup from Brooke Hampel off Abbey Cornelius' tip. UTC kept it up and led by four points twice and were up 11-9 with 4:20 to go in the first before the Gamecocks took the lead on an 8-0 run. The Mocs kept it close in the first half and tied it up 21-21 on a layup from Brooke Hampel midway through the second. JSU would retake control to go into intermission leading 35-27. Chattanooga was 9-of-20 (45%) in the first half and closed out the game making 18-of-47 (38.3%) and were 14-of-18 from the free throw line. Cornelius and Hampel combined for 17 first half points. Cornelius finished the game with her fourth double-double of the year with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Hampel shot 60 percent (6-10) from the field for 12 points and Addie Grace Porter, with UTC's lone 3-pointer of the game, had 10 points and a career-best seven rebounds. While UTC had 23 turnovers, JSU scored just 11 points off the miscues while Chattanooga had five points on 12 Gamecocks errors. The Mocs did not have as many opportunities from the outside but outdueled Jacksonville State 32-28 in the paint. Chattanooga outrebounded JSU 41-35 but gave up 13 points on 10 offensive rebounds by the Gamecocks.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Mocs Fight to the End in Loss at Marshall
This was the first meeting between the two programs since Marshall left the SoCon 25 years ago.
The Chattanooga Mocs returned to Huntington, W.Va., for the first time in 25 years and fought to the end in a 60-56 loss to Marshall Wednesday afternoon at the Cam Henderson center. Chattanooga took its first and only lead of the game early in the fourth, starting the final frame with six straight points. Sigrun Olafsdottir's third 3-pointer of the contest put the Mocs up 50-48 with 8:50 to play. Marshall, however, responded with six points of its own and held off the Mocs determined offensive effort the rest of the way. Raven Thompson drove from the outside with 20 seconds to play, hitting a layup to pull Chattanooga to within a point at 57-56. UTC put the Herd on the line twice in the final seconds with Marshall scoring three of four free throws, but the Mocs were unable to find a bucket in response. Thompson tied her career-best with a game-high 23 points and pulled down six rebounds. She was 8-of-11 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line. Her 3-pointer in the third period pull Chattanooga to within four points midway through the quarter. Abbey Cornelius scored eight of her 12 points in the second half and recorded 11 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. Olafsdottir had season-highs with 14 points, five assists and three 3-pointers. She was 5-of-7 from the field and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. Marshall started the game on a 10-0 run before the Mocs answered back with eight straight points. The Herd ended the period with a 20-14 lead and added another point to its advantage in the second to lead 35-28 at intermission. Thompson got the Mocs scoring started in the second quarter, pulling UTC to within three points twice in the period, but the Herd used an 8-0 run to pad its lead, 30-19, with 4:39 to play in the half. However, Chattanooga put together a 9-2 scoring run over the next 3:49 to make it a 32-28 game with 35 seconds left before the half. The dagger was a 3-pointer from Marshall in the final seconds of the frame to give the Herd a 35-28 lead at the half. The Mocs continued to claw their way back into the game in the third. After falling behind 37-28 just moments into the quarter, an acrobatic play from Cornelius to Olafsdottir sparked a 10-3 run by UTC to cut the Herd lead to 40-38 with 5:40 in the period. Olafsdottir's shot missed and the rebound went long. Cornelius made a save, going out of bounds in the corner and found Olafsdottir in the lane. She put up the shot and drew a foul. Her 'and 1' made it 37-31 at the 9:04 mark. Marshall responded with a 3-pointer but UTC scored the next seven, cutting the lead to two points on layup from Cornelius. Another Cornelius jumper cut the lead to two again late in the period, but Marshall took a 48-44 lead into the final quarter. The Mocs fall to 8-6 headed into the holiday break. The game ended a six-game road trip for the Mocs that began with a win at Georgia State. UTC went 3-3 in the stretch. Marshall improves to 7-5 on the year, closing out non-conference play.
 
CORNELIUS EARNS SECOND STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK NOD
Graduate student-athlete Abbey Cornelius was named the Southern Conference Student-Athlete of the Week for the second time this season. She is a Master's Candidate studying for her MBA and carries a 4.0 GPA. Last week Cornelius recorded her third double-double of the year with 12 points and 11 rebounds at Marshall. She was 6-of-11 from the field and dished out a pair of assists.
 
MILESTONE REACHED FOR ABBEY CORNELIUS
Graduate Abbey Cornelius, in her fifth season, became the 30th member of the Mocs 1,000-Point Club. She reached the milestone at North Alabama and is 27th with 1,026 points. She needs 15 rebounds to become the ninth player to reach 800 career boards.
 
THIRD TIMES THE CHARM
Graduate Abbey Cornelius became just the third person in Chattanooga women's basketball history to score 1,000 points, record 700 rebounds and 100 blocked shots. The other two are Alex Anderson, 2004-08 (1,732/1,010/221) and current graduate assistant Jasmine Joyner, 2013-17 (1,319/982/436).
 
WAZEERUD-DIN CLOSING IN ON DIVISION I MILESTONE
Transfer Yazz Wazeerud-Din is nearing the 1,000-point mark of her three-year Division I career. She spent two seasons at Stetson amassing 767 points in two seasons. She is just five points away from the milestone after scoring 228 in her one season at UTC.