CHATTANOOGA --- Chattanooga women's basketball suffered its first loss of the 2023-24 season on Sunday after the Mocs dropped their contest with Marshall 79-74 at McKenzie Arena.
The Mocs (2-1, 0-0 SoCon) built up a lead that was as big as 18 points at one point in the game, but the Thundering Herd (1-1, 0-0 Sun Belt) forced mental mistakes out of UTC that ultimately proved fatal as the Herd was able to take down the Mocs in their own building for the first time since 1992.
"Tough one to swallow there. That was a hard-fought game," head coach Shawn Poppie said. "I think they got momentum there early in the second half, and it snowballed for a little while. We gave them a little push at the end; it just wasn't quite enough. My hopes are we can learn from it. I'm proud of the kids, they fought, we just had some mental lapses during that stretch; more mental than physical. We couldn't quite get over the hump today. We'll hopefully learn from it and get better, but definitely still proud of the group I've got."
Chattanooga came out swinging for the fences in the opening quarter of action, as UTC ended the frame up 27-12 after shooting 61.1 percent (11-for-18) compared to just 26.7 percent (4-for-15) from Marshall. The Mocs were connecting from anywhere, specifically freshman Hannah Kohn, as the young Florida native went a perfect 3-for-3 from three-point range in the first quarter to help the Mocs create a sizeable gap between themselves and Marshall.
While the Herd found their footing in the second quarter, the Mocs were still able to keep Marshall at a distance with UTC taking a 43-35 lead into the halftime locker rooms. With a wide variety of Mocs getting involved both offensively and defensively, it was UTC's game to lose heading into the second half.
The Herd would open the second half with a full court press on the Mocs, a factor that would remain a thorn in Chattanooga's side until the final buzzer. With the Herd starting to mount pressure, mental errors by the Mocs opened the door for Marshall to continue to chip away at the UTC lead. After the Mocs saw eight of their 19 total turnovers come in the third quarter, Marshall was trailing by just one point as the teams made their way into the third with the scoreboard reading 54-53.
In the final quarter of action, both teams would turn to their main stars to try to take the win in McKenzie Arena. For Marshall, that meant feeding their leading scorer Roshala Scott, who had already scored 20 points heading into the fourth quarter. For UTC, that meant turning to reigning SoCon Freshman of the Year Raven Thompson to help the Mocs hang on.
As both Scott and Thompson traded blows, Marshall finally took their first lead of the entire game with just 7:44 remaining in regulation on a driving layup by Scott. Fueled by this moment, the Herd built up their lead to as much as eight points as time continued to dwindle for the Mocs.
Running out of time, Thompson did everything in her power to pull Chattanooga back within reach after converting on a pair of and-ones for the Mocs. Despite her best efforts, however, the Herd were able to just stay ahead of the Mocs up until the final seconds ticked off the clock in the Roundhouse.
With the scoreboard reading 79-74, the Mocs had suffered their first loss of the season to the Thundering Herd.
Thompson would finish the game as UTC's leading scorer with 17 points, 12 of which came in the fourth quarter of play. Scott ended up scoring a total of 31 for Marshall in the win for the Herd. 11 of her points came during the fourth quarter.
Thompson also finished with a team-high seven rebounds on the day, while Addie Grace Porter led the Mocs in assists with five.
FROM THE HEAD COACH | QUOTES
On how the young pieces can benefit from games like this.
"They need games, just in general. It was good, because the games going fast. They have to guard the ball; that's probably where they're lacking the most right now, just on that defensive side of the ball. The toughest thing with this game is we won't see anything like that all year again. So, they need games, but they need games that give them a better feel of what our league looks like. It was nice to get them some minutes."
On the number of turnovers today.
"We had some early, but by half, I thought our press break was pretty solid. The frustrating piece is their press didn't change the second half; we did. Not by what we were doing strategically; it was mental. Some of that is fatigue, I get that. 19 is too many, but you're going to turn it over against a system like that. The live ball turnovers, we can't have, where we're just throwing it around. [It's not] necessarily the turnovers as much as it is one the defensive side. We have to control the ball and get that thing back out. That's where we did not execute in my opinion."
TOP TAKEAWAYS | NOTES
- Chattanooga and Marshall now sits tied 19-19 all-time when playing each other on the hardwood.
- UTC's record when hosting the Herd falls to 12-5 overall. The last time Chattanooga lost to Marshall at home came on February 10, 1992 in a 58-45 victory for the Herd.
- Today's game marked the first time Marshall played in McKenzie Arena since 1997.
- The Mocs had four players finish with double-digit points.
- The last time UTC had four players score 10+ points was against Georgia State last season.
- Chattanooga finished 52.9 percent (27-for-51) from the field in the loss. This is UTC's third consecutive game shooting above 40 percent as a team.
- The last time UTC shot above 50 percent from the floor and lost came on November 13, 2017 in a 58-57 Chattanooga loss to UCF. In that game the Mocs shot 55 percent (22-for-40) from the field.
UP NEXT: TENNESSEE TECH
The Mocs will now have a pair of days to recuperate before hitting the road to head to Cookeville, Tennessee, to battle with the reigning Ohio Valley Conference Tournament champions, Tennessee Tech. Tip-off between the Mocs and the Eagles is set for 7 p.m. ET, and the game will be available on ESPN+ as well as over the radio on 96.1 FM/100.3 FM/1070 AM.
50 SEASONS OF CHATTANOOGA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
The 2023 season for the Chattanooga women's basketball team marks a major landmark for the program and the university, as UTC women's basketball officially celebrates its 50th season of competition as a university sponsored athletic program. Following the adoption of the Title IX legislation back in 1972, UTC added women's basketball, tennis and volleyball programs to its roster of athletic teams, bringing on five decades of history and success for each of the teams. Chattanooga WBB will be putting on multiple promotions and content pieces throughout the 2023-24 season to celebrate the program's history, culminating in the team hosting its 50th Season Celebration and Reunion during the Mocs' February 3 matchup against Furman at McKenzie Arena.
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