JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. --- Chattanooga women's basketball rolls into a crucial road matchup this Saturday when the Mocs take on in-state rival East Tennessee State in Johnson City.
Every game matters in a basketball season, but it's especially the case when you play in the Southern Conference. The Mocs know that they hold their destiny in their own hands. Currently sat in a tie for second place with Wofford, if the Mocs win out the regular season they are guaranteed to head to Asheville as the SoCon No. 2 seed.
A loss to ETSU on Saturday makes things much more interesting, as the Mocs currently sit just one game ahead of the Bucs, who are currently tied with Samford in the fourth-place position. All of this is sufficient to say that while there may only be three regular season games left on Chattanooga's schedule, there is still a lot left for teams to be playing for prior to the 2025 SoCon Tournament.
Tipoff against the Bucs this Saturday is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET. Fans can catch the game either on ESPN+ or over the radio on WFLI 104.3 FM or The Varsity app.
GAME DAY INFORMATION
Opponent: ETSU
Date: Saturday, February 22, 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 (12-12, 7-4 SoCon)
The Mocs have been on a bit of an up and down stretch of the SoCon season, going 3-3 in their last six games to currently hold a 7-4 record in the league standings. Despite this, UTC is still very much in play for the second seed as the Mocs currently sit tied with Wofford for the No. 2 spot in the conference. Chattanooga has been able to hang its hat on some stellar team defense this season, as the Mocs have limited their opponents to average just 55.4 points/game in 2024-25. This ranks as the 18th-best scoring defense in the entire NCAA. Some standouts for the Mocs include Caia Elisaldez, who currently leads the team in scoring (13.4 points/game) as well as assists (4.4 assists/game) as well as Gianna Corbitt, who is averaging 10.0 points/game and 7.2 rebounds/game for UTC. Corbitt is coming off a week in which she was named the Southern Conference Player of the Week after averaging a double-double last week in Chattanooga's two road games at Mercer and Samford.
ABOUT EAST TENNESSEE STATE (15-11, 6-5 SoCon)
ETSU is a team that is about as gritty and tenacious as they come, which makes the Bucs quite the threat as the Mocs come into town this weekend. Sitting 6-5 in league play, the Buccaneers are just one game back from Chattanooga, making this weekend's rivalry game that much more important. While ETSU's most recent win over Mercer snapped a two-game losing streak for the Bucs, the team has had a very strong outing in the back stretch of the SoCon season winning four of their last six dating back to the last time these two teams played. A hard-nosed defensive team, ETSU also has multiple capable scorers including Courtney Moore, who currently leads the Bucs in scoring (13.4 points/game) while averaging a conference-leading 2.3 three-pointers made/game. Meghan Downing also poses a threat to the Mocs when it comes to scoring in the paint, with Downing currently leading the Southern Conference with a 2.2 blocks/game average this season.
THE LAST TIME THEY MET
The last time these two teams met, it was a barnburner in the Roundhouse back on Jan. 25 when the Mocs were able to take a 48-46 victory over the Bucs by the narrowest of margins. Chattanooga led by 13 points heading into the fourth quarter, but a late rally by ETSU quickly saw that lead vanish with just 0:32 left to play in the Scenic City. It was then Caia Elisaldez that put on her cape to save the day for the Mocs, as the sophomore connected on the go-ahead layup with 0:24 left in the game, a shot that proved to be the game-winner when all was said and done in McKenzie Arena. The Mocs are now 69-25 against ETSU all-time, having won each of the last six matchups with the Bucs as well as 11 of the last 12. UTC's record when playing ETSU in Johnson City sits at 30-14 all-time with Chattanooga last road loss to the Buccaneers coming on Feb. 9, 2019 (ETSU won 64-54).
TOP NOTES
• Gianna Corbitt was named the Southern Conference Player of the Week this past Tuesday after averaging 13.5 points/game and 10.5 rebounds/game for the Mocs last week at Mercer and Samford. Not only is this Corbitt's first career weekly honor, but she marks just the fifth true freshman in program history to have won SoCon Player of the Week and the first since Raven Thompson did so back on Nov. 29, 2022.
• Corbitt leads all SoCon freshmen in rebounding (7.2 rebounds/game), steals (1.6 steals/ game) and blocks (0.8 blocks/game) while ranking fourth in scoring (10.0 points/game) this season. Corbitt has more double-doubles this season (5) than the rest of the SoCon's freshmen combined (2).
• Logging 4.4 assists/game and already having 101 assists in 2024-25, Caia Elisaldez is the first Moc to have 100+ assists in a single season since 2015-16.
• UTC holds the active NCAA streak for most consecutive games with a made three-pointer. Chattanooga's streak stands at 800 straight games with a made three-pointer and the streak dates back over 25 years to December 1999.
• Sigrun Olafsdottir is the program record holder for most career games played (144) and starts (141). She also actively ranks ninth in program history when it comes to career steals, with the Iceland native sitting at 186 over her UTC tenure. Five more steals would tie Olafsdottir for eighth in program history.
• Olafsdottir also has a team-high 55 steals this season. It's the most steals in a single season for a Moc since Ka'Vonne Towns had 64 back in 2014-15.
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.
