STATS | NOTES | QUOTES | PHOTOS
 
ASHEVILLE---The Chattanooga Mocs won the 19th Southern Conference Women's Basketball Tournament Championship Sunday afternoon in Harrah's Cherokee Center. The second-seeded Mocs toppled top seed Wofford 63-53 with a strong defensive performance.
 
The Mocs held the league's premier offense to 17-and-a-half points below their 70.5 season scoring average. It was done in large part to an adjustment to the regular season planning.
 
"The game plan we put in today is one that could last in a one-game series, and that's all we had to do is win one game," Coach Shawn Poppie enlightened the assembled media. "You know, if you're playing on a Thursday and have to turn around and play again, Saturday, you can't do it.
 
"We did today. We don't have the bodies for it, but we did for a one-day deal. I told Sigrun (Olafsdottir), 'you're going to be as tired as you ever have been if you buy in and do what we're asking of you.'
 
"She's a player that will do anything she can to help the team win. That's exactly what she did today."
 
SoCon Tournament Most Outstanding Player Raven Thompson led the way with 19 points and nine rebounds. Yazz Wazeerud-Din added 16 with Addie Grace Porter chipping in 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Helen Matthews led the Terriers with a game-high 25 points.
 
The Mocs now await Selection Sunday. They learn their NCAA Tournament fate on Sunday night, March 12, at 8 p.m., on ESPN.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Mocs started slow and finished strong. They trailed 17-9 after 10 minutes before turning the tables and locking down the Terriers the rest of the way. That was in large part due to the gameplan tweak mentioned above and Sigrun Olafsdottir's buy-in.
 
She hounded Wofford guard Rachael Rose from start-to-finish. If this was the movie Hoosiers, she would've told Coach Shawn Poppie that Rose was chewing dentyne, it was that dogged an effort.
 
She wasn't alone, however. The Terriers averaged 1.7 points per minute over the opening 10 minutes and 1.2 per the final 30. On the other hand, the Mocs got better as the game went on winning those three decisive periods 54-36.
 
It started in the second quarter with Chattanooga cutting the deficit to three multiple times only to see the effort shrugged aside by the Terriers. That is until the final two minutes before intermission. Trailing 29-24, the Mocs went on a 7-2 dash to the locker room on two Thompson free throws and a buzzer-beating Cornelius layup book-ending Porter's fourth three of the first half. That was the last Wofford would see of the lead.
 
Rose got just her second basket at 5:26 of the third to get her squad within three, 37-34. The Mocs were relentless, however, running into the quarter break 12-2 to build the advantage to 13, 49-36, on a Wazeerud-Din layup.
 
The Terriers nipped at the Mocs heels getting to within seven three times over the final 10 minutes, but no opening was allowed, considered or allotted down the stretch as the Mocs claimed yet another Southern Conference Championship.
 
"I am so proud of this group," Coach Poppie added. "Because they bought in, we were able to figure out how to how to win. In my opinion, (his team) got what they deserved."
 
QUOTABLE
"This is so special. This is what I came to Chattanooga to do. That I get to do it with these girls...Audrey (Canter) is my roommate and my best friend, that we got to do this together, there's no better feeling." – Senior Abbey Cornelius on winning a SoCon title
 
"I just did whatever I could to help the team. Our gameplan was to shut (Rachael Rose) down. It was my job to try to take her out of the game. I'm just so proud of this team. We got there together...it was just a total team effort." – Junior Sigrun Olafsdottir on being primary defender in today's gameplan
 
"Well, what happens is we skipped some steps because now we won one. Instead of saying this is what we're going to do, now it is this is what we do. This is a good team, but these players are the foundation to build a program. It's going to make that next phone call a lot better, I promise you that." – Coach Shawn Poppie on what the win means in year 1 for him with this program
 
RECORDS/SERIES
Chattanooga (20-12) | Wofford (22-9)
Series: Chattanooga leads 53-8 all-time / Chattanooga leads 5-2 in SoCon Tournament Meetings
 
NOTES TO KNOW

• 19-0 in Southern Conference Championship games.
• That's 19 titles in 40 official SoCon title games. The remainder of the active league members combine for 12 total led by Mercer's four. Former member Appalachian State is second in all-time trophy hunts with six, less than a third of the Mocs total.
• Chattanooga trailed by eight after the first quarter before winning the final 30 minutes by 18 (54-36). For the tournament, the ladies were -16 in the first quarter (34-50) and +66 in final three periods (161-95).

 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• The Mocs shot 51.2 percent for the game (21-43) with a respectable 35.0 percent (7-20) performance beyond the arc. It was an exceptional 65.2 percent (15-23) on 2pt attempts.
• Wofford star guard Rachel Rose was "held" to 15 points with 10 coming in the final 10 minutes. She scored 43 points in the two regular season meetings.
• The Mocs halfcourt defense was a major factor. The Terriers scored nearly 40 percent of their 53 points off 15 Mocs turnovers.
• (BONUS NUMBER)…Wofford shot 36.0 percent from three (9-25) but just 10 of 31 (32.3%) INSIDE the arc.

 
ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS
Most Outstanding Player – Raven Thompson, Chattanooga
Pinnacle Award – Audrey Canter, Chattanooga
 
First Team
Raven Thompson, Chattanooga
Addie Grace Porter, Chattanooga
Yazz Wazeerud-Din, Chattanooga
Rachael Rose, Wofford
Isys Grady, UNC Greensboro
 
Second Team
Abbey Cornelius, Chattanooga
Jakhyia Davis, ETSU
Jackie Carman, Wofford
Lilly Hatton, Wofford
Helen Matthews, Wofford
 
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