This Week in Chattanooga Women's Basketball History: March 10-16
 
2023-24 is the 50^th season of women's basketball at UTC. We will travel back in time to explore the Mocs history one week at a time. This is the final week of the Mocs look back.
 
The Mocs, also known as the Mocettes and Lady Mocs in previous seasons, are 2-16 for all games played March 17-23. No games were played in Maclellan Gym and the Mocs went 2-2 in The McKenzie Arena. Games during this time were the NCAA Tournament and Women's National Invitation Tournament.
 
Mocs in the WNIT
UTC went 1-3 in the WNIT. The lone win was a win over Villanova in the Roundhouse in 2005. That would be followed by a loss at Kentucky a couple days later. In 2000, after beating Alabama on last second free throws two days before, the Mocs hosted Georgia Tech on March 18. UTC fell to the Ramblin' Wreck. In 2009, the Mocs and Wildcats were paired up again, also in Lexington. This time UTC fought tooth and nail before falling 81-76 in overtime.
 
Mocs in the NCAA Tournament
Chattanooga was the first Southern Conference team to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. That came in 1989. UTC was also the first and only SoCon team to tally a mark in the win column in the NCAA Tournament. That was in 2004. The Mocs are currently embarking on their 17^th trip to the Big Dance this season. UTC is 1-13 in the NCAA Tournament this week in Mocs history.
 
Craig Parrott took UTC to the postseason tournament twice. The second was in 1992 where UTC lost a heart breaker to Clemson, 76-72. In 2003 the Mocs took on 16^th-ranked South Carolina at Penn State. In 2004, UTC, with its then-best seeding in program history at #10, beat #7 Rutgers in the first round. Katie Galloway [Burrows] hit "the shot", a banked in 3-pointer from incredibly deep to spark a rally for the Mocs 74-69 victory. Two days later, UTC took on #2 seed Vanderbilt in the next round, falling to a team largely recruited by future Mocs head coach Jim Foster. Foster left the Commodores to be the head coach at Ohio State in 2002.
 
The year after playing Kentucky in the WNIT, the two met in the NCAA first round in a close contest in Rosemont, Ill. This year's tournament trip to Raleigh, N.C., is the second for the Mocs in the postseason. In 2007, UTC took on #13 Baylor led by Kim Mulkey. In 2008 a trip to Bridgeport, Conn., saw UTC fall in a closely contested game against #16 Kansas State.
 
After missing the tournament in 2009, the Mocs went across the country to Tempe, Ariz., to face 20^th-ranked Oklahoma State. Chattanooga carried a 17-point lead into halftime with visions of another Round Two in its sites. However, the Cowboys would make one of the greatest comebacks in NCAA Tournament history to eliminate the Mocs.
 
A trip to College Station, Texas in 2013 would be the last with Wes Moore. Chattanooga took on 24^th-ranked Nebraska in the opening round. Moore remained in his home state and would soon be named the head coach of NC State.
 
Jim Foster arrived in Chattanooga shortly after and was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. He led UTC to the NCAA Tournament in four of his five seasons. The Mocs faced off against Syracuse (2014), Pittsburgh (2015), Mississippi State (2016) and Louisville in 2017.
 
The arrival of Shawn Poppie was not expected to yield immediate results. However, he led the Mocs to a second place finish in the Southern Conference regular season, the SoCon Tournament title and the Mocs 16^th trip to the NCAA, more than any other SoCon team. The NCAA Tournament committee sent Poppie and his Mocs to Blacksburg, Va., to take on his previous school, Virginia Tech.
 
The McKenzie Arena Attendance Records
• The Mocs second round NCAA Tournament game against Vanderbilt on March 22, 2004 ranks fourth best on the attendance list at The McKenzie Arena. 7,541 fans cheered on the Mocs. Against Rutgers, the Mocs had 6,391 people watching history made on March 20, 2004. After beating Alabama in the first round of the 2000 WNIT, 3,676 fans filled the seats against Georgia Tech on March 18, 2000.
 
TITLE IX ENABLES EQUALITY FOR WOMEN IN SPORTS
In 1972 Congress enacted the Title IX of the Education Amendments stating: "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."
 
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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Coach	Date	Rank		Opponent	W/L		UTC	Opp
Parrott	3/18/1992	20	vs	Clemson*	L		72	76
Moore	3/18/2000			Georgia Tech	L		74	81
Moore	3/23/2003	16	vs	South Carolina*	L		54	68
Moore	3/20/2004			Rutgers*	W		74	69
Moore	3/22/2004	13		Vanderbilt*	L		44	60
Moore	3/18/2005			Villanova	W		50	40
Moore	3/20/2005		at	Kentucky	L		54	91
Moore	3/18/2006		vs	Kentucky*	L		59	69
Moore	3/18/2007	13	vs	Baylor*	L		55	68
Moore	3/23/2008	16	vs	Kansas State*	L		59	69
Moore	3/19/2009		at	Kentucky	L	OT	76	81
Moore	3/20/2010	20	vs	Oklahoma State*	L		63	70
Moore	3/23/2013	24	vs	Nebraska*	L		59	73
Foster	3/22/2014		vs	Syracuse*	L		53	59
Foster	3/21/2015		vs	Pittsburgh*	L		40	51
Foster	3/18/2016		at	Mississippi State*	L		50	60
Foster	3/18/2017		vs	Louisville*	L		62	82
Poppie	3/17/2023		at	Virginia Tech*	L		33	58

 
*NCAA Tournament