COOKEVILLE, Tenn. --- Chattanooga women's basketball left Cookeville with a statement victory on Wednesday night, as the Mocs steamrolled Tennessee Tech in their own home gym on their way to a convincing 70-45 win at the Eblen Center.
The Mocs (3-1, 0-0 SoCon) set the tone early by getting out to an 18-0 lead on the Golden Eagles (0-2, 0-0 OVC) and UTC never looked back as Chattanooga dismantled the reigning Ohio Valley Conference Tournament champions to get back into the win column.
"I keep saying we are very skilled and I'm looking over my playbook and I got just so many different options because we're skilled," head coach Shawn Poppie said. "We're working on the toughness piece, right? That stuff that we can control, that's where I was little disappointed. We had a little stretch there. There's some of our dumb turnovers are we kind of lose our mind a little bit. When we are ourselves and we can be tougher on the defensive end, I don't think offense is going to be our problem. Not like it was a year ago. We're still relying on one or two people for sure."
It took until the 1:48 mark of the first quarter for the Golden Eagles to find their way onto the board, but that would be the last bucket for TTU that frame as UTC went into quarter two holding Tech to shoot just 1-for-11 from the floor to open the game.
The Mocs continued to practice what they preached on the defensive side of the ball, coming up with stop after stop and forcing multiple turnovers and bad shots out of the Tennessee Tech offense. Meanwhile on the Mocs' offensive side of the ball, multiple Mocs lit up the Eagles from various areas of the floor. As the teams made their way to the halftime lockers, UTC held a very strong 40-12 advantage over TTU.
The point total marked a new season-best for Chattanooga when it came to fewest points allowed in a half, beating out the team holding King University to just 13 points in the opening half of the season. The last time UTC held their opponent to 12 or less points in a half came last season, when the Mocs clamped Tennessee State up to hold the Tigers to just 12 early-on in the 2022-23 season.
Not wanting a repeat of their lost lead against Marshall from earlier in the week, the Mocs proceeded to shutdown any chance of a Tennessee Tech comeback by coming up with numerous defensive stops.
Not only that, but a total of four Mocs had now crossed into double figure scoring, keeping a sizeable cushion between UTC and TTU as the teams made their way into the fourth.
The final frame felt very similar to the first, as Chattanooga's stifling defense held the Golden Eagles to shoot just 10 percent (1-for-10) from the floor to close out the game. As the final buzzer sounded, Chattanooga found itself back into the win column with a very convincing 70-45 win over the defending OVC Tournament champs.
The win marks Chattanooga women's basketball's first ever road win against Tennessee Tech when playing in Cookeville, as the all-time series now moves to 7-19 for the Mocs.
Jada Guinn, who was not only celebrating her birthday but was playing against her former college team of four years, finished with a team-leading 15 points while Karsen Murphy was able to match her career-high with a total of 14 points for the Mocs. Raven Thompson (12) and Hannah Kohn (12) also scored double-digit points in the game.
Addie Grace Porter led the way in the rebounding department with a season-high seven while Thompson's three steals marked a team-high as well as a season-high for the sophomore.
FROM THE HEAD COACH | QUOTES
On the defense.
"I was really proud of us defensively. We fouled a little bit in the first half. They obviously changed their philosophy in the second half and tried to pound it inside. We kind of waited till the quarter, brought some double teams there for a stretch and digs and it settled us back down and kind of threw them off rhythm a little bit again. I mean, they went 1-for-10 in the fourth quarter when we needed to get it. Really it's the turnover battle when we just lose our minds for no reason. Just like we did against Marshall. It happened again today, we just happen to play better defense afterwards."
On playing with a large lead.
"You're up 20-something and I'm trying to run anything that says 'hold the dang ball'. I could have called a bunch of sets that had a bunch of passes but I thought we had lost our mind a little bit, so we did just a lot of dribbling and kind of unorthodox but a little bit that's on me. But I also was trying to let that clock go go go go go and just hold on in a sense, but do it the right way and got us to the free throw line. I mean a lot of good efforts."
On individual efforts.
"Karsen [Murphy] 14 points, Raven [Thompson], 12 and five, Jada [Guinn] comes back to her home territory and gets us 15 and five, Hannah Kohn off the bench, another 12. There's a lot of people in there that did a lot for us. KK [Kailyn Farrell] had some good minutes. My voice sounds like this because I was screaming at her a little bit on the defensive. You know, we're just trying to do things the right way as we continue to learn and grow but to win by 25 on the road against the defending Ohio Valley Tournament champions. I think that we will take it good rebound win for us and we need a day of rest.
TOP TAKEAWAYS | NOTES
- The Mocs now hold a record of 7-19 all-time against Tennessee Tech.
- Tonight marked the first time in program history that UTC has defeated the Golden Eagles on the road. The Mocs are now 1-11 in road games against TTU.
- Held Tennessee Tech to just two points in the first quarter. Sets a new season-best for fewest points allowed in a quarter.
- Held opponents to just two points in a quarter twice last season (Tennessee State and ETSU).
- The Mocs have only allowed a total of 25 points in the first quarter of their games this season.
- Proceeded to hold TTU to just 12 first half points, setting a new team-best mark for fewest point allowed in a half this season.
- The Mocs held TTU to shoot just 2-for-21 (.095) in the first and fourth quarters combined.
- Jada Guinn finished with a team-high 15 points, including going a perfect 3-for-3 from the free throw line playing against her former team.
- Raven Thompson finished in double figures once again for the Mocs scoring 12.
- Thompson also led the team with three steals, which also is a new season-high.
UP NEXT: UVA WISE
The Mocs will now have the rest of the week to recover from Wednesday's game against TTU before returning home on Saturday, November 18 to host Division II foe UVA Wise. Tipoff between UTC and the Cavaliers is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET and the game will be available to stream on ESPN+. Due to a potential conflict from the Chattanooga v. Alabama football game on Saturday, the radio broadcast for UTC women's basketball will be available on 104.3 FM or on the Varsity Network.
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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