CHATTANOOGA --- Chattanooga women's basketball needed the dominoes to fall perfectly on Thursday night, and they did just that and more as the Mocs captured the program's 23rd Southern Conference regular season title with the team's 60-56 win over Western Carolina.
The Mocs (23-3, 11-0 SoCon) needed just about every minute of the game to get the job done against the Catamounts (6-21, 1-11 SoCon), but ultimately came away with the team's 11th conference victory this season in front of the McKenzie faithful. The team's attention then turned to the video board as they watched second-place Wofford fall to Samford in Birmingham, clinching the outright regular season title as the crowd roared around them.
Things were shaping up to be a slugfest right from the start of the night in the Roundhouse, and the Mocs and Catamounts traded blows all throughout the opening frame. With neither team budging, it was ultimately WCU that would take a 12-11 lead into the second quarter.
The Mocs got an early spark in the second, however, with Hannah Kohn connecting on one of her three three-pointers on the night to help UTC retake the lead. Despite this, the Catamounts remained a thorn in the side of Chattanooga, always having a response to any offensive success the Mocs could muster.
On the shoulders of Jada Guinn, the Mocs put together their best stretch of the night over the final seven minutes of the second quarter, outscoring Western Carolina 8-2 to help Chattanooga carry a 24-19 lead into halftime. Those who were scoreboard watching the results around the league tonight also got an extra boost, as they tuned in to see second-place Wofford was trailing by three points in their game as well.
The Mocs continued to rely on the duo Guinn and Raven Thompson to provide the spark on offense for UTC. While the Mocs started to score the pill more efficiently in the third, the Catamounts did as well as heading into the final 10 minutes of action Western Carolina held a narrow 42-40 advantage, marking just the fifth time this season that the Mocs trailed heading into the fourth quarter.
Both teams continued to swap baskets back and forth with neither side getting any separation from the other as the minutes ticked away in the game. Down to just 3:45 left to play, a pair of free throws by Thompson would once again level the score at 52-52.
From here, Guinn took the game over scoring UTC's final eight points from the floor and providing the late push the Mocs needed to get past the pesky Catamounts. The buzzer sounded, and the Mocs knew they had secured at least a share of the regular season title as the scoreboard read 60-56 in favor of Chattanooga.
The team's attention then turned to the video board, as they watched the final seconds tick off of the clock in Samford's 64-62 victory over second-place Wofford. It was finally official; the Mocs were outright Southern Conference regular season champions, the 23rd time in program history.
Guinn would ultimately finish with 29 points, nearly breaking her career-high of 30 from earlier this season against WCU, along with a team-best nine rebounds. Thompson ended her night with 16 points and six boards for the Mocs.
FROM THE HEAD COACH | QUOTES
Opening Statement
"First and foremost, thank you to our administration to our marketing team, Ashley Alletto and everyone involved in making tonight special. Obviously our Pink Game means a lot to us. It was neat to see a lot of pink in the stands. The starting lineups gave me chills and even a little bit of tears in my eyes with the warriors that they got to walk out and run out with our kids.
Proud of our kids for the resilient effort. It wasn't the prettiest of games. I thought we missed a lot of layups and didn't play our best but we stayed with it and found ways to make enough plays down the stretch to beat a gritty Western Carolina team and then to sit there after the game and watch the board, to clinch our first championship in a regular season was really special. So proud of our kids. Proud of what we're building here. It's obviously a great accomplishment, but we still got a lot of work to do.
On the seniors – Sigrun Olafsdottir and Jada Guinn
"They're two special, special kids to me. They opened their arms and invited us in when we first got here and didn't take any convincing even. That's just who they are as kids. They give everything for not only this program, but also this university. They do everything the right way. For them to celebrate at home, I think that made it even more special in front of our home crowd and fans. We knew we had to win tonight and we were thinking about Saturday and not having a scoreboard to watch. To be able to do it tonight allows Saturday to be really special with Senior Night. Love them kids to death. Some people say you inherited them. They feel like my kind of girls. I'd do anything for them.
TOP TAKEAWAYS | NOTES
- The Mocs have now earned themselves a share of the 2024 SoCon regular season title.
- This marks the 23rd SoCon regular season title in program history and the first since 2019.
- The Mocs have won (or shared) 23 of the 41 seasons of women's basketball in the league.
- 17 of the 23 campaigns with a regular season championship was followed by a tournament crown as well…19 total SoCon Tournament Championships for the program including 2023.
- The Mocs have now also clinched the No. 1 seed in the upcoming SoCon Tournament.
- They are guaranteed to meet Western Carolina once again in the tournament's opening round.
- Today marked the 98th meeting between Chattanooga and Western Carolina.
- All-time the Mocs lead the series 85-13.
- UTC is 40-7 when hosting the Catamounts.
- The Mocs have won 28 of their last 30 meetings against WCU.
- With the win, the Mocs now secure the 2-0 regular season sweep against the Catamounts.
- The Mocs have swept the Catamounts in the regular season 29 times (41 seasons).
- Chattanooga's win streak has now reached 12 straight victories.
- This is now the longest win streak for the Mocs since stringing together 25 straight wins back during the 2014-15 campaign.
- 14th straight win over a SoCon opponent (11 regular season wins). Longest since 16 from Jan. 30-Jan. 26, 2017.
- The Mocs have now hit 23 wins on the season. This is the 16th time in program history the Mocs have had 23+ wins in a season.
- 23 wins in first 26 games are most since same total in the 29-4 2015 SoCon Championship campaign.
- 20th SoCon win for Shawn Poppie.
- 20-5 opening ranks second only to Hall of Famer Jim Foster who opened 20-0 en route to a 36-0 start and 64-10 league mark over his five seasons at the Mocs helm.
- Coach Poppie has led the Mocs to his second consecutive 20-win season, with UTC sitting at a 23-3 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 11-0.
- The last time Chattanooga started 11-0 in conference action: 2014-15 season (the Mocs went on to finish a perfect 14-0 in SoCon play that year).
- UTC has started 11-0 in SoCon action a total of seven 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 has also extended its home win streak to 11 straight wins in the Roundhouse.
- This marks the longest home win streak since the team won 17 straight home games between the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.
- The Mocs are now 11-1 at home this season, with the lone loss coming to Marshall on November 12.
- Coach Poppie now has a career record of 3-1 when coaching against Western.
- Starters: Porter, Guinn, Olafsdottir, Thompson and Murphy. This starting five now is now 21-2 on the year.
- Guinn and Thompson have now accounted for 855 of Chattanooga's 1,668 total points on the year (51.3 percent of team's scoring output).
- UTC has now led 23 out of 26 games this season at the half.
- This was only the fifth time this season that the Mocs trailed headed into the fourth quarter.
- The lead changed hands a total of 13 times tonight.
- The largest lead of the night for the Mocs was five points. It's only the fifth time the Mocs haven't led a game by double-digits at some point this season.
UP NEXT: UNCG
The Mocs will now cap off the weekend with the team's final home game of the regular season this Saturday, February 24, as UNC Greensboro (17-10, 6-6 SoCon) is set to come to McKenzie Arena for UTC's Senior Day celebration. Tipoff against the Spartans is set for 2 p.m. ET, and the game can be caught on ESPN+ or over the radio on 104.3 FM. The game will be a "Mocs Y2K Night" theme along with the other Senior Day festivities taking place on court.
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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