CHATTANOOGA --- Chattanooga women's basketball was on cruise control in their most recent matchup against Samford on Saturday, with the Mocs shooting their way to a 75-52 win over the Bulldogs in front of the McKenzie Arena faithful.

The Mocs (14-3, 2-0 SoCon) shot the lights out of the Roundhouse on Saturday with the team going 58 percent from the floor, 50 percent from three and 100 percent from the line in a thrashing of the Bulldogs (8-9, 0-2 SoCon). This marked the first time that the Mocs have finished perfect from the free throw line as a team since December of 2018.

The opening 1:30 of Saturday's game looked like the only bad stretch of basketball that UTC would put on the floor in their matchup with the Bulldogs, as Samford got off to a 7-0 lead early-on. While it took a little time to make up that ground, the Mocs fought their way back into the game over the remainder of the first to head into quarter two trailing by just one point, 14-13.

It then became the Jada Guinn show over the next couple of minutes in McKenzie Arena, with the first eight points of the second quarter belonging to the Oak Ridge, Tennessee, native. The Mocs weren't done there as Sigrun Olafsdottir connected on a long three-point try to beat the shot clock, opening the quarter on a 11-0 UTC run that saw the Mocs up 24-14 just like that.

The run sparked a true turn in the game, with the Mocs keeping their foot on the gas for the remainder of the frame to take a 37-26 lead into halftime. Chattanooga's 24-point second quarter matches the team's highest-scoring second quarter of the season from November 6 against King University.

The third quarter was nearly identical to the second, with the Mocs outscoring Samford 23-12 in the third quarter to bring a 60-38 lead into the final 10 minutes of play. Chattanooga ultimately put up a total of 47 points over the course of the second and third quarters, a vast difference to the Bulldogs' 24 points in that same span.

In the final quarter of action, UTC turned to many of its backups to ride out the win with the likes of Takia Davis and Frode Flos van der Schans getting some solid minutes alongside freshman Hannah Kohn and Caia Elisaldez. When all was said and done, the Mocs were looking at a 75-52 victory over Samford, marking the team's third-largest margin of victory of the season at 23 points.

Jada Guinn ended her day with a near-career-high of 24 points while Raven Thompson would also go off for 20 points of her own. Karsen Murphy also added in an additional 13 points in the victory.

UTC finished the game having shot 58 percent (29-for-50) from the floor, 50 percent (8-for-16) from three-point range and 100 percent (9-for-9) from the free throw line. The team actively ranks first in the Southern Conference this season in all three categories. The last time the Mocs shot perfect from the free throw line came on December 21, 2018 against NC State (9-for-9 from the line).

FROM THE HEAD COACH | QUOTES
Opening statement
"Thanks to the 1400 and some change who came out, showed our kids a lot of support. You can start to hear it and feel it. I think there's an excitement from our fan base, from our team, as we're starting to figure things out a little bit. I think the last two games we've really had spurts of showing how good we can be. A lot of room for growth still, but it's a team that is very exciting to watch. I think there's a togetherness. I think we've formed a little bit of a toughness. Really happy with with how we how we played outside of that 7-0 start to start the game. You know, I got a little frustrated. There is some possessions in the first half. When you shoot as good as we did. We took so many possessions away from ourselves with not executing some sets that we had put in. I thought when we executed against the zone in the sense of movements to certain spots, we got any shot we wanted and then we shot the ball really well. So that was a little frustration in the first half. I thought we cleaned those things up in the second half. Really proud of a lot of different people. You know Raven Thompson to be plus 29 and 31 minutes is really impressive. I thought she came up with some big offensive rebounds. Some toughness. Karsen Murphy played a phenomenal game in her 20 minutes. Obviously Jada Guinn did some Jada Guinn things offensively, rebounding the basketball well. I think he mentioned in the statement we had 28 rebounds there. 23 and I know everyone keeps saying that you guys, you're small. And we are we are compared but we got some toughness in that locker room. Some discipline in that locker room and it's a good weekend to build off of for sure. From the Mercer game to now we got a really big one next Saturday."

On the offense of the team
"This team has an interesting structure to it. Karsen Murphy gives you the ability to stretch the floor. Our creators off the bounce are Rave [Thompson] and Jada [Guinn] and then you got two kids that, although they've not great shot great, how people have guarded, they've not had a ton of opportunity either in Sigrun [Olafsdottir] and Addie Grace [Porter].  That mixture, it's hard to pick your poison of how you're going to guard. We move Raven inside and out. A lot of times she sees double teams. Then what happens, you come off the bench and we different. Caia is a quick as lightning point guard and can get down hill and start to make some plays for people. Hannah Kohn we run a bunch of stuff for to get some threes, and if not it just stretches the floor for everybody else. And then KK [Farrell] is kind of just like you bruiser a little bit and can get the dirty work plays. I think that's what makes it fun. No one's the same. It's a bunch of puzzle pieces that we put together and can make a really good puzzle. That's where I'm happy. We're starting to figure each other out."

TOP TAKEAWAYS | NOTES
- Today's game was the 40th meeting all-time between the Mocs and the Bulldogs.
- Chattanooga leads the all-time series against Samford, 29-11.
- Chattanooga has now won its last seven home games in a row.
- This active streak marks the longest home win streak for the Mocs since they won seven straight home games during the 2016-17 season.
- UTC has now led 14 out of 17 games this season at the half.
- Jada Guinn has scored 10+ points in every game this season for the Mocs (17 games).
- The Mocs are a perfect 6-0 this season when Guinn scores 20+ points. She finished with 24 today.
- Guinn and Thompson have now accounted for 581 of Chattanooga's 1,110 total points on the year (52.3 percent of team's scoring output).
- UTC shot 58 percent (29-for-50) from the floor on the night. This is the second-highest FG % of the season for the Mocs (highest was 60.7 percent against King).
- Chattanooga went 8-for-16 from three-point range (50 percent) on the day too.
- The Mocs went a perfect 9-for-9 from the charity stripe. This marks a season-high FT percentage for the team and the first time the team has gone 100 percent from the line in McKenzie Arena.
- The last time the Mocs went 100 percent from the free throw line was on December 21, 2018 when UTC went 9-for-9 in a 78-58 loss to NC State.

UP NEXT: EAST TENNESSEE STATE
Chattanooga will now close out its four-game homestand a week from today by hosting in-state rival ETSU on Saturday, January 20 at 2 p.m. ET. The game will be available to stream via ESPN+ or you can tune into 96.1 FM/100.3 FM/1070 AM to hear Larry Ward on the radio call. Live stats will also be available on GoMocs.com.

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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