SPARTANBURG, S.C. --- Chattanooga women's basketball lost a heartbreaker on Thursday night in Spartanburg, with the Mocs coming up just short in a 57-54 defeat to first-place Wofford at the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.
The Mocs (9-10, 4-2 SoCon) had their sights set on grabbing a share of first place in the SoCon with a victory over the league-leading Terriers (14-5, 6-0 SoCon), but shooting woes from three-point range proved the difference as UTC came up just short in the end.
"I think that this is a game that we're going to reference later on and really look back on as an important game for us in this season, specifically on our hunt for a conference championship," head coach Deandra Schirmer said. "And I feel like obviously it wasn't the result that we wanted, but if we can lock in and we can learn from our mistakes and understand that coming into this game, we're seeing Wofford blowing out teams left, right and center, and for me, it just verifies what we are, what we thought we are.
"We're going to be a top team in this conference. So now, let's keep the fire that's in our stomachs and however mad I am right now about the loss, I'm channeling that into these next couple games because we have everything we need."
UTC's defense came out of the gate ready for the challenge, as the Mocs locked down an otherwise threatening Wofford offense right from the opening tip.
Sigrun Olafsdottir broke through first in the game, connecting on a three to give the Mocs a 3-0 lead early-on in the night. As the teams tangled back and forth over the remainder of the first quarter, a Gianna Corbitt offensive rebound and putback helped put Chattanooga ahead 13-12 right before the frame came to its end.
The Mocs and Terriers continued to exchange blows through the second as neither team gave an inch to the other. While Wofford was able to build up a 30-24 advantage with 2:22 left to play in the half, that lead quickly evaporated following three-pointers on back-to-back possessions for UTC.
Some late free throws falling for Caia Elisaldez pushed the Mocs in front right before the teams made their way to the locker rooms. Leading 34-32, the Mocs were looking to play spoiler to the Terriers' undefeated SoCon season.
The second half proved to be just as much of a knockdown, drag out fight between the two squads.
Much like the previous two quarters, the third quarter saw the two sides trading leads over nearly the entire 10 minutes of action. And once again, just like the first and second quarters, a late score by UTC gave the Mocs a lead heading into the quarter break as Elisaldez converted from the charity stripe to give Chattanooga a narrow 42-41 lead heading into the fourth.
The Mocs continued to exchange leads with the Terriers before an 8-0 scoring run by Wofford suddenly saw UTC trailing 54-48 with 3:35 left in the game. Remaining calm, the Mocs found ways to score to keep their hopes of victory alive.
A late and-one conversion from Ava Card followed by another basket by the freshman put the Mocs into striking position as Wofford now only held a 55-54 lead with 1:01 remaining on the clock. A clutch basket by Wofford would push the Terrier lead back up to three with 0:31 left to play.
The Mocs then had their share of opportunities to tie the game, as offensive rebounds, jump balls and missed free throws by Wofford ended up giving UTC four different chances to tie the game from three-point range. Those hail mary shots wouldn't find the bottom of the net, however, as time ran out on Chattanooga's hopes of coming back with the Terriers taking a 57-54 win when all was said and done.
Caia Elisaldez tied her career-high of 21 points in the loss, leading the way for the Mocs in the scoring department while also logging a team-high four assists. Sigrun Olafsdottir also added 12 points for UTC paired with a team-leading four steals.
Gianna Corbitt saw her double-double streak snapped, but only just barely as the freshman ended her night with nine points alongside a team-high eight boards. Corbitt also added three steals and a block on the defensive side of the ball for the Mocs. Brooke Anya rounded out Chattanooga's stat leaders, finishing with a team-high two blocks.
FROM THE HEAD COACH | QUOTES
On the team effort to the end of the game
"I think from my standpoint, I have a group that I know what we have when we got girls with a lot of heart and a lot of talent. Finding ways to win them a game and a game like this, that's my job. We've got to look at ways that we could get better looks, ways that we can find our players who are hot in that moment and make sure that we're executing down the stretch to win it. I do feel like from shooting 15 percent from three and shooting a lot of threes and still putting up 54 points, I'm definitely proud of that. I'm proud of our nine second chance points, 26 points in the paint, all that good stuff. But just really gut wrenching for our team to fight the way that we did. And no, honestly, at the end of the game I thought our situational basketball was fantastic. We've run a lot of new sets that we practiced and we executed it down the stretch. We had an opportunity to win it and win it and win it and just kind of needed to get that three-point shot to go. So just proud of them. We as a staff, we're going to be able to pick them up after this one because we've got an even more important one on Saturday. And that's what a mature team will do is they'll be able to recover from this and understand the importance of Saturday's game. As a staff, we've got to help them with that."
TOP TAKEAWAYS | NOTES
- This marked the 64th meeting between Chattanooga and Wofford.
- The Mocs now lead the all-time series 55-9.
- UTC had won its last three games against the Terriers dating back to a Feb. 18, 2023, loss (WOF won 72-53).
- The Mocs are 25-5 when playing the Terriers in Spartanburg.
- Chattanooga currently holds the longest active streak in the entire NCAA when it comes to consecutive games with a made three-pointer.
- Dating back to December 1999, UTC has made a three-pointer in 795 straight games.
The loss snapped what was a three-game win streak for the Mocs.
- The game featured a total of 13 lead changes and nine ties.
- The largest lead of the game by either team only reached as high as six points in favor of Wofford.
- Chattanooga's 54 points scored against the Terriers marks the most scored by a SoCon opponent against Wofford this season.
- UTC won the turnover battle, forcing 18 while committing just 11.
- This led the Mocs to scoring 22 points off turnovers compared to Wofford's nine points off turnovers.
- The Mocs out-scored the Terriers 26-24 in the paint.
- The Mocs only shot 15.6 percent (5-for-32) from three in the game, a season-low.
UP NEXT: FURMAN
Chattanooga now heads to Greenville, South Carolina, to take on the fifth-place Furman Paladins this Saturday, February 1 at 2 p.m. ET. The Mocs will be looking to extend what is a one-game lead between themselves and fourth-place ETSU, and a win over Furman would do just that and the Mocs remain only one game back from second-place UNCG. Saturday's game, which will be played at North Greenville, can be caught on ESPN+ or over the radio on WFLI 104.3 or via The Varsity app.
FOLLOW CHATTANOOGA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Follow @GoMocsWBK on Twitter & @gomocswbk on Instagram for the most up-to-date information and news regarding Chattanooga women's basketball.
GoMocs.com is the official website of the Chattanooga Mocs. Buy officially licensed gear in our online store. The Mocs can also be followed on their official Facebook page or on Twitter. Find out how to join the Mocs Club and support more than 300 student-athletes by clicking here.
