CHATTANOOGA --- Chattanooga women's basketball got off to a perfect start its Southern Conference slate on Wednesday, as the Mocs were able to take down Mercer 66-57 in McKenzie Arena to start off 1-0 as conference play now picks up across the SoCon.

The Mocs (13-3, 1-0 SoCon) saw a couple of slightly shaky stretches in the first few and last few minutes of the game, but a solid overall team performance with extra help from a combined 34 points from Jada Guinn and Raven Thompson helped guide UTC to a win in its conference opener against the Bears (6-11, 0-1 SoCon).

Chattanooga came out of the blocks a little slow to open the night, as UTC trailed Mercer for much of the opening five minutes of action. Despite being down, the Mocs remained within striking distance, and it wouldn't take much longer for that strike to happen. Primarily on the back on Guinn, the Mocs would rip off a 10-0 scoring run that eventually saw UTC ahead 19-13 at the conclusion of quarter one.

After another slow start to the second quarter saw things level at 23-23, a resilient Mocs squad battled its way into halftime with a 37-32 lead, thanks in large part to Hannah Kohn seeing three-pointers go in on three consecutive possessions for the Mocs.

The third quarter proved dominant for the Mocs on both sides of the ball, as a fired up Chattanooga team came out of the halftime locker room out for blood. Besides clamping up the Bears to just six points in the quarter, the fewest allowed by UTC this season in the third quarter, the Mocs surged their way up to a 53-38 lead as time expired in the third. Chattanooga was now just 10 minutes away from notching their first SoCon win of the season to their belt.

To open the fourth, UTC would score the first six points of the frame, jumping out to a 21-point advantage on Mercer with only 8:15 left to play. While the lead was daunting, the Bears weren't ready to leave Chattanooga quietly.

Mercer went on to close out the final eight minutes of action on a 19-7 scoring run, taking the Mocs' lead all the way down to single-digits. However, even Mercer's best efforts weren't enough to close the sizable gap put between the Mocs and Mercer, as Chattanooga came away with the 66-57 win to open up their SoCon season.

Standout Jada Guinn continued her dominance in the scoring department, pacing the Mocs with a team-high 20 points on the night. Raven Thompson also proved crucial for UTC down the stretch, as the sophomore ended up finishing a rebound shy of her second consecutive double-double for the team (14 points, nine rebounds).

FROM THE HEAD COACH | QUOTES
Opening statement
"It's nice to go 1-0 to start this thing [SoCon season] off. Thank you to the fans. I think we're slowly building it. You could feel the energy in McKenzie. Excited to hopefully build off this and get some more people in them seats come Saturday. We've got a really big game against Samford coming up."

"Proud of our group. I thought we competed. We had a little bit of a stretch like we've been having, but it wasn't long and some of it was Mercer. They went zone there in the fourth quarter. That was completely on me. I did not have them ready for that. Overall, very, very pleased with the energy that we played with. Hopefully that's something that we can build off of as we head into the rest of Southern Conference play."

On having a larger lead late in the game
"I wish I could do it a little bit longer. I probably should have, to be honest with you. I thought it was a great opportunity for a couple of freshman to finish the right way and we didn't quite do that. But it's good. It's learning, right? They get an opportunity to learn how we finish games. There's so many. One, you want to leave there with a great feeling. We played all 40. But the other piece is little stuff. That matters in the Net. If you win by 10 or more, that matters. We win by nine tonight when we had the opportunity to add value in the Net. Those are like learning moments. It's much nicer when you're talking about winning by nine, ore 11 or 12 in the locker room because they've done the job."

"Obviously Raven and Jada play a huge, huge part for us. It's kind of how we're built. They know that, we know that. We play off of them. I think we're gonna continue to get better and learn each other more and more and more as they continue to play. They are, in my opinion, two of the best in this league. They're gonna be very valuable for us."

TOP TAKEAWAYS | NOTES
- Tonight's game marked the 32nd meeting all-time between Chattanooga and Mercer.
- After tonight's win, UTC now leads the all-time series 21-11.
- The Mocs also move to 11-3 all-time against Mercer when playing at home.
- This also was the Southern Conference opener for the Mocs.
- All-time, Chattanooga women's basketball is 36-7 when playing in their SoCon opener.
- The Mocs have won 13 of their last 14 Southern Conference openers dating back to the 2010-11 season.
- UTC has now won its last three matchups against the Bears.
- Both Chattanooga and Mercer were selected to finish in the Top 4 of the SoCon in the Preseason Media and Coaches Polls.
- UTC was picked to finish first (coaches) and second (media), while Mercer was picked to finish third (coaches) and fourth (media).
- UTC has now led 13 out of 16 games this season at the half
- Jada Guinn has scored 10+ points in every game this season for the Mocs. She finished with 20.
- Raven Thompson was one rebound shy of her second consecutive double-double. She ended the night with 14 points and nine boards.
- Guinn and Thompson have now accounted for 506 of Chattanooga's 1,035 total points on the year (48.9 percent of team's scoring output).
- UTC shot 44.9 percent (22-for-49) from the floor on the night. The team has shot 40 percent or better from the field in 15 out of 16 games this season.
- Chattanooga finished 18-for-20 (90 percent) from the free throw line tonight.
- That marks the most free throws made for the team since they made 19 against UVA Wise on November 18.
- It also marks the most free throw attempts for the team since they shot 23 on November 25 against Northern Kentucky.

UP NEXT: SAMFORD
Home SoCon action rolls on for the Mocs this weekend as UTC will now welcome Samford (8-7, 0-0 SoCon) to McKenzie Arena for the front half of a doubleheader with the Chattanooga men's basketball team on Saturday, January 13. Tipoff between the Mocs and the Bulldogs is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET and a stream of the game can be found on ESPN+. Larry Ward's radio call will also be available to fans 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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