JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. --- Chattanooga women's basketball moved one step closer to the program's 23rd SoCon regular season title on Saturday, when the Mocs went into Johnson City and came away with a convincing 56-41 victory over in-state rival ETSU.
The Mocs (22-3, 10-0 SoCon) once again leaned on their defense to carry the baton in a hostile environment, with the Bucs (16-9, 5-5 SoCon) only shooting 29 percent from the floor on the day.
UTC is now within striking distance of earning the program's 23rd SoCon regular season title. With one win over their final four games, the Mocs could clinch a share of the regular season crown while two wins would make the Mocs outright winners and the No. 1 seed for the SoCon Tournament in Asheville.
From the jump, the Mocs defense was buzzing around the floor providing stop after stop for UTC. The Buccaneers wouldn't score their first point of the game until there was 5:30 remaining in the quarter. Despite this strong defensive start, UTC also couldn't buy a bucket with the Chattanooga offense stalling after scoring the first five points of the day.
Holding ETSU to just two made field goals in the first quarter, UTC could hang its hat on giving up just eight first-quarter points to the Bucs. Despite this, the Mocs still found themselves trailing through the opening 10 minutes, with ETSU leading 8-7 thanks to a poor shooting effort and a bushel of turnovers by the Mocs.
Both teams were able to find some more offense in the second, as the Mocs turned to Jada Guinn and Raven Thompson to lead the charge while ETSU's Nevaeh Brown carried the load for the Buccaneers. It was a dead heat for close to six minutes in the second quarter, as both teams traded single possession leads and ties.
However, a late flurry of baskets by the Mocs helped see UTC build up a nice eight-point advantage at the halftime break. With another 20 minutes to play in Brooks Gymnasium, the Mocs were up 28-20 after closing out the frame on a 9-1 UTC scoring run.
Coming out of the break, the Mocs floored it on both sides of the floor, asserting their dominance over the Bucs to continue their run over the next 6:49 of play. The run itself would be 9-2 for the Mocs, putting the combined run including the second quarter at 18-3 in favor of UTC. While ETSU was able to finally find the bottom of the net a handful of times to close out the quarter, the Mocs carried a 41-28 advantage into the final 10 minutes in Johnson City.
Things got a little interesting down the stretch for the Mocs in the fourth frame, as a chaotic press by the Bucs saw UTC's 15-point lead become eight with 3:06 left on the clock. The Mocs remained unfazed though, with Chattanooga continuing to keep the East Tennessee State comeback at bay. Sigrun Olafsdottir would nail a clutch three-pointer with 1:27 on the clock, proving to be the UTC dagger. With the final score reading 56-41, the Mocs had secured win No. 10 of their SoCon campaign.
Leading the charge yet again for the Mocs was the tandem of Jada Guinn and Raven Thompson. Guinn finished with her sixth double-double of the season after recording a team-high 19 points while tying her career-high in rebounds with 16. Thompson would finished with 16 points and seven boards in the win, including going 7-for-7 from the charity stripe.
FROM THE HEAD COACH | QUOTES
The way the team came together in final period to not allow comeback:
"I think we relaxed a little bit, but their pressure did some of that to us. They amped the pressure up a little bit, and we just got a had a couple of mental errors. Just a couple of unorthodox things, I thought we were able to hold our cool a little bit there and make enough plays down the stretch, but I'm proud of our defensive effort."
On defensive play on the road sweep:
"We just came through to win all three and doing it the way we did…it wasn't the prettiest offensive nights, but I thought that we showed a lot of toughness and continued to just find ways to win."
TOP TAKEAWAYS | NOTES
- Today marked the 93rd meeting between Chattanooga and ETSU in WBB.
- UTC now leads the series 68-25.
- The Mocs are now 28-14 when playing in Johnson City.
- The last time the Buccaneers defeated the Mocs in Brooks Gymnasium: February 9, 2019.
- With the win, the Mocs now secure the 2-0 regular season sweep against the Bucs.
- UTC has won each of their last five meetings against ETSU, all of which have come under Coach Poppie.
- Coach Poppie is undefeated (5-0) versus ETSU in his coaching career.
- Poppie becomes just the second coach in program history to win his first five matchups against ETSU. The other was Jim Foster, who won his first eight against the Bucs.
- Only Grace Keith (3-0) has ended her career undefeated when coaching against East Tennessee State. Keith won all three meetings with ETSU as UTC's head coach.
- Chattanooga's win streak has now reached 11 straight victories.
- This matches the longest win streak for the Mocs since stringing together 11 straight wins during the 2015-16 season.
- 13th straight win over a SoCon opponent (10 regular season wins). Longest since 16 from Jan. 30-Jan. 26, 2017.
- The Mocs have now hit 22 wins on the season. This is the 16th time in program history the Mocs have had 22+ wins in a season.
- 22 wins in first 25 games are most since same total in the 29-4 2015 SoCon Championship campaign.
- Coach Poppie has now led the Mocs to his second consecutive 20-win season, with UTC sitting at a 22-3 record overall this season.
- Poppie is now just the second coach in program history to have 20-win seasons in each of his first two seasons with the team.
- The other coach was Jim Foster, who had 29-win seasons in 2013-14 and 2014-15.
- The team remains undefeated in the 2024 calendar year.
- The Mocs also remain undefeated in SoCon play at 10-0.
- The last time Chattanooga started 10-0 in conference action: 2014-15 season (the Mocs went on to finish a perfect 14-0 in SoCon play that year).
- UTC has started 10-0 in SoCon action a total of eight times in program history including this season.
- The team has finished undefeated in the SoCon regular season a total of fives times: 2014-15, 2013-14, 2007-08, 2005-06 and 2003-04.
- Chattanooga moves to a perfect 9-0 record in true road games this season.
- The last time UTC started 9-0 in road games in a season: 1999-2000 season (went on to finish 12-0 on the road that year).
- The last time UTC won nine straight true road games in a season: 2014-15 season (10 straight road wins).
- Starters: Porter, Guinn, Olafsdottir, Thompson and Murphy. This starting five now is now 20-2 on the year.
- UTC has now led 22 out of 25 games this season at the half.
- Guinn and Thompson have now accounted for 810 of Chattanooga's 1,608 total points on the year (50.4 percent of team's scoring output).
- The Mocs shot 33.3 percent (18-for-54) from the floor, just the fourth time the team has shot below 40 percent from the floor in a game this year.
- UTC held ETSU to a 28.9 percent (13-for-45) shooting percentage from the floor.
- This marks the third time UTC has held its opponent to a sub-30 percent shooting percentage this season.
- Have held their opponents to a sub-30 percent shooting split in two of their past three games.
- 39 rebounds for the Mocs marks the third-highest rebound total for the team this year.
- This was the seventh time that UTC has held an opponent to fewer than 50 points this season.
- Marks the fourth time this season that the Mocs have failed to record a block.
UP NEXT: WESTERN CAROLINA
UTC will now return home for its final week of home games of the regular season, starting first by hosting Western Carolina (6-19, 1-9 SoCon) on Thursday, February 22 for the team's annual Pink Game. Tipoff against the Catamounts is scheduled for 7 p.m. The Mocs will then have one last game in McKenzie Arena on February 24, with UNCG (17-9, 6-5 SoCon) coming to town for Chattanooga's Senior Day. That game is slated for a 2 p.m. ET tip time.
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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