NOTES | QUOTES | PHOTOS

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (March 10, 2024) --- The No. 1 seed Chattanooga Mocs women's basketball team claimed its 20^th Southern Conference Tournament title with a 69-60 victory over No. 2 UNCG on Sunday afternoon inside the Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville, N.C.
 
Chattanooga is now 20-0 all-time in SoCon title game appearances and improves to 28-4 on the season. Jada Guinn was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player (MOP) while Hannah Kohn and Raven Thompson were named to the All-Tournament Teams.
 
GAME RECAP
It was UNCG who set the early tone after knocking down a pair of triples while limiting UTC to a two-of-seven start from the field which helped build a 10-5 lead the first media timeout. Both teams were held without a field goal for the final four minutes of the quarter as the Spartans held a slight 12-10 edge.
 
Back-to-back threes from Raven Thompson and Hannah Kohn provided a spark for the Chattanooga offense early in the second which helped regain the squad regain a 16-14 lead (7:54). The lead grew to seven, 21-14 (6:32), on five-straight points in the paint from Caia Elisaldez and Thompson.
 
UNCG trimmed it to two, 25-23 (3:38), with a strong inside attack before UTC ultimately took a 32-29 advantage into the break after the two teams traded baskets before the horn. The Mocs featured an 11-0 edge in bench points during the first half with Kohn leading the way with nine, going a perfect three-of-three from deep.
 
Chattanooga accounted for the first five points of the second half to take its largest lead of the game, 37-29 (9:09), before UNCG responded with a 9-2 run to pull within one, 39-38, with 4:26 left in the frame. UTC closed the final moments of the third quarter with a pair of Elisadez layups and Thompson free throws to claim a 49-43 lead ahead of the final 10 minutes.
 
UNCG trimmed its deficit to two, 51-49 (7:55), before the Jada Guinn show took center stage in the fourth quarter. Guinn scored nine of the next 11 UTC points over a two-plus minute stretch to extend the top-seeded Mocs lead, 62-53, with 5:16 left in the game.
 
The Spartans continued to keep it tight down the stretch and had it within four, 62-58, at the 2:58 mark. Guinn put the inevitable nail in the coffin with a successful and-one with 1:41 left, giving UTC a 65-58 lead in the final moments. Chattanooga closed out the win 69-60 with you guessed it… more Jada Guinn magic.
 
UP NEXT – NCAA Tournament – Selection Sunday – Sunday, March 17 – 8 p.m. ET – ESPN  
 
RECORDS/SERIES – Chattanooga 28-4 ∙ UNCG 21-11 – UTC now leads the all-time series 51-14 and moves to 9-2 in SoCon Tournament meetings.
 
NOTES | MORE
- Chattanooga claims its second-straight and 20th Southern Conference title all-time… first time going back-to-back since a string of five-straight from 2013-17.
- The Mocs are now 20-0 all-time in SoCon Tournament Championship games… Chattanooga all-time in the SoCon Tournament? 66-21… All-time as the No. 1 seed? 41-4… 18th time as the No. 1 seed in the SCT.
- UTC is now 6-0 under second-year coach Shawn Poppie in Asheville.
- Jada Guinn was stellar again… 32 points on 13-of-23 shooting… scored 18 in the fourth quarter alone on 6-of-8 FG, 6-of-6 FT… back-to-back 30-point efforts… now at 630 points this season… third-most all-time in UTC single season history… tournament's MOP.
- Kohn and Thompson were both All-Tournament Second Team honorees.
- Sigrun Olafsdottir also received the SoCon Pinnacle Award, which is given to the player on the championship winning team that has the highest GPA.
 
QUOTES | MORE
Coach Shawn Poppie
Thinking back to April 2022, did you expect back-to-back SoCon titles:
"I tell you what, I know the expectations around here are very high. We can do something special. I'd be lying to say I thought we could do it this fast. But it's a testament to the crew I inherited. They bought into everything we sold, and then we brought in some special talent. I'm just proud of this group for them to be able to get what they deserve, They put the work in and bought in since we got here."
 
Jada Guinn, Gr., G
On how special this year has been to her to this point:
"It's been so special ever since I got to Chattanooga. It feels like I've been here for four years and that's just a testament to the culture that Coach Poppie has created and the culture of Chattanooga women's basketball. I'm just blessed that I'm able to be a part of it."

SOCON ALL-TOURNAMENT AWARDS
All-Tournament Teams:
First Team
Summah Evans, Mercer
Jayde Gamble, UNCG
Ayanna Khalfani, UNCG
Jada Guinn, Chattanooga
Rachael Rose, Wofford
 
Second Team
Tate Walter, Furman
Mackenzie Johnson, Mercer
Nia Howard, UNCG
Hannah Kohn, Chattanooga
Raven Thompson, Chattanooga

Most Outstanding Player
Jada Guinn, Chattanooga

Pinnacle Award (highest GPA on championship-winning team)
Sigrun Olafsdottir, Chattanooga

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