CHATTANOOGA --- Coming off a SoCon-opening win over Mercer earlier in the week, the Chattanoga women's basketball team will have its sights set on a 2-0 start to conference play this Saturday as the team will welcome Samford to the Roundhouse on January 13.
The Mocs (13-3, 1-0 SoCon) got off to a perfect start to the Southern Conference season with a win over Mercer on Wednesday, but UTC will now have to turn its attention to a Bulldogs (8-8, 0-1 SoCon) team that will be looking to throw some major size at the Mocs in order to get Samford its first conference win of 2023-24.
Tipoff for Saturday's game is currently scheduled for 2 p.m. ET at McKenzie Arena, and fans will also be able to catch the game either on ESPN+ or by tuning their radio dials to 96.1 FM/100.3 FM/1070 AM. Live stats will also be provided on GoMocs.com.
GAME DAY INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, January 13, 2024
Time: 2:00 p.m. ET
Follow the game live online on ESPN+, WFLI, The Varsity App or the GoMocs App. Links are available online at GoMocs.com.
ABOUT CHATTANOOGA (13-3, 1-0 SoCon)
The Mocs remain unbeaten in the New Year having taken down NC Central in the team's final non-conference game before defeating Mercer in UTC's SoCon-opener earlier this week. The Mocs have been and still are one of the Southern Conference's and NCAA's most efficient shooting teams across the board. UTC currently ranks 23rd in the NCAA in three-point percentage (.370), 27th in free throw percentage (.770) and 58th in field goal percentage (.449) as a team. All three of those values also actively lead the SoCon. Jada Guinn remains the Mocs' top scoring option, with Guinn averaging a team-best 18.0 points/game, while sophomore Raven Thompson also serves as a dynamic presence for UTC by averaging 14.5 points/game and 7.1 rebounds/game for the Mocs.
ABOUT SAMFORD (8-8, 0-1 SoCon)
Samford enters their matchup with the Mocs with a .500 record on the year, having gone 8-8 up until this point of the season. The Bulldogs have been on an unfortunate skid as of late after having a strong start to the year, with Samford losing five of their last six games including their most recent SoCon-opener on the road at ETSU. Despite a tough stretch of games over the past month, Samford still has a very threatening "twin towers" down below that the Mocs will need to match up against in 6-foot-5 Emily Bowman and 6-foot-3 Carly Heidger. Bowman currently ranks as the SoCon leader in blocks, averaging a staggering 2.8 per game along with averaging a team-high 8.4 rebounds/game. Offensively it's Heidger that causes headaches for most teams, as the redshirt-sophomore is currently leading Samford in scoring this season with an average of 10.8 points/game.
THE LAST TIME THEY MET
The most recent matchup between the Mocs and the Bulldogs came on February 11 of last season, when UTC was able to go into Birmingham and bring back a 60-55 victory over Samford on the road. Current UTC standout Raven Thompson led the game with a then-career-high 23 points in the victory, while current Samford guard Masyn Marchbanks ended up with 17 for the Bulldogs. It was a late 15-3 scoring run by Chattanooga that proved the difference, as UTC was able to build up a lead that Samford couldn't close by the time the buzzer sounded in the Pete Hanna Center. Addie Grace Porter also provided a strong performance for the Mocs on the night, scoring eight points alongside a team-high eight boards in the win.
TOP NOTES
• Both Raven Thompson and grad transfer Jada Guinn earned Preseason All-SoCon nods from the conference prior to the season.
• Guinn has been a pure bucket-getter for the Mocs this season, finishing in double-digits every single game this season. In fact, Guinn's 288 points scored this year are good enough to rank 40th in the entire NCAA when it comes to total points scored.
• Guinn has won a total of three different Player of the Week honors this season. She is a two-time SoCon POTW and one-time TSWA POTW.
• The Mocs have won their last six home games. It marks the longest home win streak under Coach Poppie, besting his streak of four from last year.
• The duo of Guinn & Thompson has scored 506 of the Mocs' 1,031 points this year, with Guinn averaging 18.0 and Thompson averaging 14.5.
• Hannah Kohn (36 3PT made this season) has her sights set on earning a new UTC freshman record for three-pointers made in a season. The current freshman record is 64 set by Lakelyn Bouldin during her freshman year in 2016-17. To hit Bouldin's mark, Kohn would need to average 2.15 3PT made/game
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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