BLACKSBURG, Va. --- The No. 16-seeded Chattanooga Mocs women's basketball team saw its championship season end with a 58-33 defeat to No. 1 seeded Virginia Tech in the NCAA Tournament First Round on Friday evening inside Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Va.
 
Chattanooga concludes the season 20-13 overall behind its 16^th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance. The 20-plus win season marked the first for the program since 2016-17 and the 21^st in program history.
 
"They did a really good job," Mocs head coach Shawn Poppie said of the Virginia Tech defense. "They've been doing that all year. We knew we had our hands full. We were gonna have to make some shots and we did not make shots."
 
After a quick start for the Mocs on offense, Virginia Tech pulled away early in the first half behind a 17-0 run that covered nearly 10 minutes of game time spanning the first and second quarters. UTC, who trailed 31-16 at half, played the Hokies even in the third quarter (11-11) before being outscored 16-6 in the fourth to amount to the 58-33 final tally.
 
Yazz Wazeerud-Din and Raven Thompson led all Chattanooga scorers with 10 points while Karsen Murphy chipped in with six on a pair of threes. Virginia Tech's Georgia Amoore led all scorers with 22 points as four different Hokies ended in double figures.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The top-seeded Hokies jumped out to an early 8-0 lead before two Karsen Murphy three-pointers and a Raven Thompson layup cut the deficit to one, 9-8 (4:23, 1Q), following a VT free throw. Virginia Tech closed the opening quarter on a 9-0 run to claim an 18-8 advantage after the first 10 minutes.
 
The run continued over the early stages of the second quarter as the Hokies took a 25-8 lead on a Georgia Amoore three-pointer with 6:04 left in the opening half. Chattanooga scored five-straight quick points to make it 26-13 (3:12, 2Q) before the hosts entered the break with a 31-16 edge.
 
The two teams traded 11 points each in the third quarter as both teams shot north of 30.0% from the field to allow for a 42-27 VT lead ahead of the final 10 minutes. The Hokies used an 10-0 run to open the final quarter to build a 52-27 lead with just 5:16 left in the contest before closing out the 58-33 victory.

QUOTABLE
"We've got to make sure we springboard off this year, this run, which I know this group well. We got some fighters in there. We got some fighters returning. I'm proud of our seniors for giving everything they did for us and it's time to capitalize on the movement."

RECORDS/SERIES
No. 16 Chattanooga (20-13) | No. 1 Virginia Tech (28-4)
Series: Virginia Tech leads the all-time series 6-0.

NOTES TO KNOW

• 16th NCAA Tournament appearance...most in league history with the program earning the league's first bid in 1989...1st time as a 16 seed...the Mocs have been seeded 7 (2015), 10 (2004), 11 (2013, 2014), 12 (1989, 1992, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2016), 13 (2002, 2010, 2017).
• 21st 20-win season in school history… first since 21-11 in 2016-17... Shawn Poppie is the third Chattanooga coach to record 20 wins in first season joining Sharon Fanning (1976-77, 20-13) & Jim Foster (2013-14, 29-4). 
• Senior Abbey Cornelius is playing in her first NCAA Tournament continuing an impressive run of Mocs high school signees…since the start of the 1997-98 season, only one Moc has signed as a freshman and completed eligibility without playing in the NCAA Tournament.
• Yazz Wazeerud-Din scored 10 points tonight… 30th game this season in double figures... Wazeerud-Din's 519 points are the most by a Moc since Whitney Hood tallied 584 in 2011…she is the 17th to score 500 in a campaign for the program and first since Ashlen Dewart's 504 in 2013.

 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• The Mocs shot just 27.3% (6-of-22) from the field in the opening half… half of the FGM came from behind the arc (3-of-7, 42.9%)… Karsen Murphy provided two threes in the first half.
• Yazz Wazeerud-Din and Raven Thompson accounted for 33 of the team's 49 total field-goal attempts… both finished with 10 points… Thompson accounted for eight boards and two steals.
• Virginia Tech shot an efficient 47.9% (23-of-48) from the field… went just 5-of-14 (35.7%) from deep… four players reached double figures with Georgia Amoore pacing the contest with 22… all five VT threes came from Amoore.
• UTC and VT each turned the ball over 15 times… Hokies earned a 15-7 advantage in points off miscues… also earned a 32-18 edge in points in the paint behind a 38-22 rebounding advantage.

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