CHATTANOOGA --- The Chattanooga women's basketball team is back in action this Saturday for an in-state rivalry game at the Roundhouse, as East Tennessee State heads into town in a crucial Southern Conference clash.
The Mocs have won their last two SoCon matchups, as have ETSU, so Saturday's game will play a pivotal role in home the SoCon standings may play out over the remainder of the 2024-25 season. UTC enters the contest holding onto the third-place spot in the conference, while the Buccaneers sit right behind them in fourth.
Fans can come out to McKenzie Arena this Saturday, as the opening tipoff between the Mocs and Bucs is currently set for 2 p.m. ET. The game will also be available to stream on ESPN+ or by tuning the radio to WFLI 104.3 FM. There are also a wide variety of promotions happening over the course of game day, including UTC's annual alumni reunion, in which numerous Chattanooga women's basketball alums will be making their way out to the Roundhouse.
GAME DAY INFORMATION
Opponent: ETSU
Date: Saturday, January 24, 2025
Time: 2:00 p.m. ET
Follow the game live online on ESPN+, WFLI, The Varsity App or the GoMocs App. Links are available online at GoMocs.com.
ABOUT CHATTANOOGA (8-9, 3-1 SoCon)
The Mocs have found their footing over the first couple games of Southern Conference action, as UTC has started league play 3-1 while currently sitting in third place in the conference. After winning the team's SoCon opener at Western Carolina, the Mocs suffered a humbling loss to second-place UNCG on the road. Since then, the Mocs have strung together back-to-back wins over the likes of Samford and Mercer and will now be aiming to carry that momentum into an important clash with ETSU this weekend. Caia Elisaldez has been one to watch for UTC, as the sophomore is currently leading the team in both scoring (10.8 points/game) and assists (4.6 assists/game) this season. Brooke Anya is also a game removed from one of the best performances of her career against Samford, in which Anya notched a career-high 26 points to help guide UTC to a victory over the Bulldogs.
ABOUT ETSU (11-8, 2-2 SoCon)
After starting off the SoCon season 0-2, the Buccaneers have fought their way back to a .500 league record after going 2-0 last week against the likes of Mercer and Samford. While the Bucs have found their groove overall, they will be required to do something they haven't done often this weekend against the Mocs: win on the road. ETSU currently holds a record of 2-7 in road games this season, as opposed to the team's red-hot 8-1 record at home. Look for East Tennessee State to rely heavily upon the duo of Braylyn Milton and Courtney Moore, both of whom are averaging double-digits for the Bucs this season (Milton – 12.1 points/game, Moore – 11.8 points/game). This is even more impressive when seeing that they both have shot the ball over 40 percent from the floor and over 35 percent from three-point range.
THE LAST TIME THEY MET
The last time these two teams met came back on Feb. 17, 2024 when the Mocs took down the Bucs in Johnson City, 56-41. It was a back-and-forth affair between the two sides before the pair of Jada Guinn and Raven Thompson helped UTC slam the door shut on ETSU. This game helped move the needle so that the Mocs now lead the all-time series against East Tennessee State 68-25, with Chattanooga now having won the last five meetings with the Bucs. In fact, UTC is currently on a streak of having won 10 of the last 11 matchups against ETSU dating back to 2019. Overall the Mocs are 35-9 when hosting the Bucs.
TOP NOTES
• Gianna Corbitt currently leads all SoCon freshmen in scoring (9.9 points/game), steals (1.7 steals/ game) and blocks (0.7 blocks/game) while ranking second amongst SoCon freshmen in rebounding (6.5 rebounds/game) this season.
• With a 4.6 assists/game average and having already recorded a team-leading 74 assists this year, Caia Elisaldez is on pace to finish the 2024-25 regular season with 115 total assists. If Elisaldez does in fact reach that total, she would be the first Moc to finish with 100+ assists in a season since Alicia Payne finished with 123 assists during the 2015-16 season.
• UTC officially holds the active NCAA streak for most consecutive games with a made three-pointer. Chattanooga's streak stands at 793 straight games with a made three-pointer and the streak dates back 25 years to December 1999.
• Deandra Schirmer has started her tenure with the Mocs by going 3-1 over her opening four games of SoCon play. She is just the fourth coach in program history to win at least three of their first four SoCon games with the program, joining Jim Foster (4-0), Katie Burrows (3-1) and Sharon Fanning (3-1).
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