Postgame Notes
Chattanooga 64, Western Carolina 43
Southern Conference Tournament
Asheville, N.C. | Harrah's Cherokee Center
Thursday, March 7, 2024
Head coach, Shawn Poppie
On advancing to the semifinals:
"I thought we showed a lot of grit, especially in the second half. We got up 10- or 12 in the first half but then lost a bit of our focus and didn't execute our game plan. We dominated the half but we were only up six. I challenged them in the second half where if we wanted to win this thing, we needed to be more focused. I thought we did that, although we didn't play that way offensively in the third. We stuck with it and the basket finally opened up for us in the fourth. Each game's gonna be different. How we play against Western is gonna be completely different than anybody else. Whoever we play next, ETSU or Mercer, we'll need to execute the mental side of things better."
On the adversity this team's faced whether it's injury or scoring droughts:
"We have a group that believes in one another. When someone's missing shots, we don't say quit being selfish we say keep shooting. When you have that mentality from your right to your left, eventually you're gonna come out of a slump. The biggest thing this group has learned is when you aren't making shots, you have to keep defending. We've seen a little bit of everything this year. We've seen injuries, we've seen teams punch us first and we've seen teams make a late push in the game. This group is so good at changing on the fly quickly because they've had that experience."
Jada Guinn, Gr., G
On taking the first step with today's win:
"We focused on our defense. That was our plan. It's always been the plan for us. We didn't start off shooting the ball well, so we had to get stops. I think it gave us some energy later and impacted anybody that came in the game. We focused on being together."
Looking forward to the next step:
"It's just switching our minds. The coaches gave us a good plan against Western, they'll do the same in getting us prepared for the next team. It's a quick switch, just trying to figure out who we play and then just begin preparing from there."
(Fun question) On Hannah Kohn's blocked shot:
"She gets them in practice (smiling) I was so excited for her. As soon as it happened. I jumped up…it's definitely not something that she does all the time, so it's kind of unexpected, but it made us happy."
