SPARTANBURG, S.C. --- Chattanooga women's basketball put together a monstrous team performance in their regular season finale on Saturday, with the Mocs overcoming a 15-point deficit to go on to defeat Wofford 84-67 in Spartanburg.
Despite an early setback that saw the Mocs (25-4, 13-1 SoCon) trailing by 15 points early-on in the game, Chattanooga stood together to put together what would ultimately be a 38-point swing in their favor enroute to an 84-67 dismantling of the Terriers (16-12, 8-6 SoCon).
From the jump, Wofford came out of the gates swinging for the fences as the Terriers put together a dominant start to the day. Before the Mocs could blink, they were staring at a 19-4 deficit five minutes into the game. Rather than deflating, however, the Mocs came together.
Starting with an 8-0 UTC scoring run, the Mocs would shoot their way to an eventual 25-7 scoring run to earn their first lead of the day with 7:29 remaining in the second quarter as UTC led 29-26. Relying heavily on three-point shooting, including four made threes by Sigrun Olafsdottir in the first half, Chattanooga was able to build up a 37-30 lead on the Terriers with 3:55 left in the half.
Wofford wasn't going to go away though, as the Terriers hung with the Mocs to level things out at 40-40 with just 10 seconds left in the frame. With the ball in her hands, freshman Caia Elisaldez would then connect on a running three-pointer as time expired, giving Chattanooga a 43-40 advantage heading into the halftime locker rooms.
Fired up by their comeback performance, the Mocs took the baton and never looked back in the second half, steamrolling the Terriers behind numerous defensive stops and stellar ball movement. While the Mocs didn't utilize a deep bench rotation in favor of small ball, the players that did see the floor were electric for the Mocs.
A total of five players ended up finishing in double-digits for the Mocs, including a 27-point outing by Jada Guinn. Fueled by this alongside all-around solid team defense, Chattanooga pulled away without looking back, running away with an 84-67 blowout win on Wofford's home floor.
The Mocs now finished the regular season a perfect 11-0 when playing in true road games this year, sitting alongside No. 1 ranked South Carolina as the only teams in the NCAA yet to lose as a visitor. This marks the second time in program history that the Mocs have finished a season undefeated on the road, with the only other time coming during the 1999-2000 season (finished 12-0).
FROM THE HEAD COACH | QUOTES
On getting the win after trailing early
"They threw a punch at us fast. I'm not sure we wanted to start this thing minus 16 in the first five minutes, for sure, but if there's a time to do it, I wouldn't mind it early in the game. It remined me very similar of last year – here. They threw a punch at us hard. They were ready to play. We weren't. Some of that is totally on me. We had a scouting report that we liked, but we knew what Plan B would be and they dominated Plan A fast and so we adjusted. We went small the last 35 minutes of the game which I thought was gonna give them fits. I didn't think we'd have to go into it as fast as we did. We just had a fog, a glaze across our eyes early on, but credit to them. They did a heck of a job early on. Obviously Clark came right at us early and often in really what is their fourth or fifth option. It was really good for this team. We got punched hard and that's the hardest we've been punched all year. There was a challenge to them in the timeout. 'Is this us or are we willing to fight and punch back?' It took a lot of energy and effort but I'm proud of a lot of dang kids in that locker room, but it continues to show who they are. That's a 38-point swing in one basketball game. That's pretty darn impressive."
On individual play
"I thought we shot the all in rhythm. Addie Grace [Porter] went 2-for-8. I thought everyone she shot was going in. Five assists and no turnovers, that's leadership there. How about our two freshmen? Seven-for-14 from the floor, eight rebounds, five assists, two turnovers combined. Hannah [Kohn] +23, Caia Elisaldez +16. That is big time production when it was much needed while we went super small. I thought they kind of got into a rhythm there in the middle to end of the first half of our conference and then it slowed down a little bit. But they've stuck with the process and came up when we really needed them today.
"Jada Guinn, 27 points. I thought she got off to a really slow start. Raven Thompson's fighting some foul trouble early on. She gives us 15 [points] and eight [rebounds]. I mean all the way down. Sigrun Olafsdottir, she was burying them to get us back into it early on, 4-for-6 from three. You shoot 58% from the field, 50 percent from the 3-point line and 86 [percent] from the free throw line, it's hard to lose, that's for sure."
TOP TAKEAWAYS | NOTES
- This marked the 63rd meeting between Chattanooga and Wofford.
- The Mocs now lead the all-time series 55-8.
- UTC is 25-4 when playing in Spartanburg.
- The Mocs have now won their past three meetings with Wofford dating back to the 2023 SoCon Championship game.
- This is the first time Chattanooga has beaten Wofford on the road since Feb. 4, 2021.
- Coach Poppie is now 3-2 when coaching against the Terriers.
- This win also secures the 2-0 season sweep for the Mocs over Wofford.
- Chattanooga ends the regular season with a perfect 11-0 record in true road games this season.
- The last time UTC started 11-0 in road games in a season: 1999-2000 season (went on to finish 12-0 on the road that year).
- This year and that 1999-2000 season are the only two seasons in program history in which the Mocs have gone undefeated on the road.
- The last time UTC won 11 straight true road games: when the Mocs won 13 in a row on the road between the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons.
- UTC has won 10+ games on the road in a single season a total of 13 times including this year, most recently in 2014-15 (went 11-2).
- UTC has won 11+ games on the road in a single season a total of 11 times including this year, most recently in 2014-15 (went 11-2).
- The Mocs have only ever finished undefeated on the road once before in program history in 1999-2000 (12-0).
- The Mocs have now hit 25 wins on the season. This is the 12th time in program history the Mocs have had 25+ wins in a season.
- Mocs finish the regular season 13-1 in SoCon play.
- Shawn Poppie is now 22-6 in Southern Conference games at UTC.
- Coach Poppie has led the Mocs to his second consecutive 20-win season, with UTC sitting at a 25-4 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.
- Starters: Porter, Guinn, Olafsdottir, Thompson and Murphy. This starting five now is now 23-3 on the year.
- The Mocs made 12 three-pointers as a team in the win, tying the team's season-high from their Dec. 14 game at Lipscomb.
- UTC finished 50 percent (12-for-24) from behind the arc.
- The Mocs erased a 15-point deficit from the 5:00 mark of the first quarter onward.
- That is the largest deficit erased by the Mocs in a win this season.
- Chattanooga outscored Wofford 22-2 when it came to bench points.
- Also outscored the Terriers 15-3 in fast break points.
- Guinn and Thompson have now accounted for 957 of Chattanooga's 1,876 total points on the year (51 percent of team's scoring output).
- UTC has now led 26 out of 29 games this season at the half.
- Five players finished as double-digit scorers for the Mocs.
- The last time that happened? Feb. 4, 2023 against ETSU.
UP NEXT: SOCON TOURNAMENT
Today's game against Wofford marked the conclusion of the 2023-24 regular season for the Mocs, as the team will now turn its attention to the SoCon Tournament, which is set to run March 7-10 this coming week in Asheville, North Carolina. Chattanooga has known its quarterfinal matchup for a little over a week now, as the Mocs will be slated to take on No. 8 seed Western Carolina (6-23, 1-13 SoCon) on Thursday, March 7 in the opening game of the tournament. Tipoff against the Catamounts is scheduled for 11 a.m. ET with streaming coverage by ESPN+ and WFLI over the radio.
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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