CHATTANOOGA --- The regular season has finally reached its final week for Chattanooga women's basketball, as the Mocs head into their last two games of the SoCon season this week at McKenzie Arena with UTC welcoming Furman and Wofford to the Roundhouse.
Currently sat tied for second in the conference standings, the Mocs could be big movers by the end of the week as tightly knit group has formed at the top of the league. UTC sits level with Wofford, a team they played in Chattanooga's regular season finale this Saturday. One game back from the Moc-Terrier tie for second is Samford, while two games back is ETSU who the Mocs were able to pick up a massive win over in Johnson City last weekend.
This makes this week's games against the Paladins and Terriers all that more important for the Mocs, as closing out the season with two wins would guarantee UTC heads to Asheville as the tournament's No. 2 seed.
The Mocs open their week against Furman on Thursday, February 27 at 6 p.m. ET in the Roundhouse before hosting Wofford for Senior Day on Saturday, March 1 at 2 p.m. ET. Both games will be available to stream on ESPN+ or can be caught over the radio on WFLI 104.3 FM or The Varsity app.
GAME DAY INFORMATION
Opponent: Furman
Date: Thursday, February 27, 2025
Time: 6:00 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.
Opponent: Wofford
Date: Saturday, March 1, 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.
PINK OUT/SENIOR DAY AT THE ROUNDHOUSE
Thursday's game against Furman will also serve as UTC's pink out game for breast cancer awareness. The Mocs will be wearing special pink uniforms and breast cancer survivors will be joining Chattanooga's starters out on the floor for the starting lineups. Fans are also encouraged to wear pink for the game. Saturday's game against Wofford will then mark Chattanooga women's basketball's Senior Day, during which the following seniors will be honored pregame for their contributions to the program: Brooke Anya, Takia Davis, Karsen Murphy and Sigrun Olafsdottir. Saturday's game will also be 90s Night themed.
ABOUT CHATTANOOGA (13-12, 8-4 SoCon)
The Mocs are looking to peak at just the right time heading into the final two games of the regular season as well as SoCon Tournament action next week in Asheville. With wins in three of their last four games, the Mocs are in a position where two wins this week over Furman and Wofford will see UTC enter tournament season as the SoCon's No. 2 seed. Despite injuries and setbacks dating all the way back to the preseason, Chattanooga has been able to put together one heck of a season under first-year head coach Deandra Schirmer. A lot of the team's success this year can be attributed to UTC's stout defense, as the Mocs currently rank 15th in the entire NCAA when it comes to scoring defense (55.0 points allowed/game) this season. Caia Elisaldez, Sigrun Olafsdottir and Gianna Corbitt are also just a handful of names that have contributed so much to UTC's success over the course of the 2024-25 campaign. With the team's eyes set on a three-peat as SoCon Tournament champions, the Mocs are hoping to set themselves up for success in Asheville by ending the regular season with a bang this week I the Roundhouse.
ABOUT FURMAN (14-14, 4-8 SoCon)
The Paladins are a sneaky team to look out for as the season winds down, as Furman currently serves as a dangerous matchup for any team squaring off against them due to their shooting and rebounding capabilities. Furman currently sits in sixth place in the conference but could potentially jump up into the No. 5 spot if they win out this week, plus get some help from Wofford by the Terriers defeating ETSU. While only having four SoCon wins this season, the Paladins do have quite a quality win notched to their belt as back on Feb. 8 they were able to hand the current No. 2 seed Wofford a 93-88 loss in double overtime. It's that kind of result that makes Furman such a threat, as on any given night they can make their opposition pay. Furman's offense is truly what makes them a scary opponent, as the Paladins currently have five players averaging double-digits in the scoring department this season. Not only that, but four Furman players are also averaging more than six rebounds a game as well. This style of anybody being able to step up for them has made Furman a specifically hard team to guard for many in the league.
ABOUT WOFFORD (16-9, 8-4 SoCon)
Wofford is in an interesting spot heading into the final week of the season, as the Terriers obviously have proven to be one of the best teams in the entire Southern Conference this season. For starters, the Terriers have been the only team in the league to hand regular season champion UNCG a conference loss, having dismantled the Spartans 62-39 in Spartanburg. Since Wofford's last game against the Mocs, however, the Terriers really haven't looked as strong as they did in the front half of the SoCon season with Wofford losing four of their last six games. Not only that, but Wofford's two wins came against the league's bottom two teams in Mercer and Western Carolina, and both of those victories were won thanks to Wofford buzzer-beaters. While they have struggled as of late and also been bitten by the injury bug as of late, the Terriers are still a team the Mocs must defeat in order to claim the No. 2 seed in the SoCon Tournament. A big piece UTC will need to focus on is sophomore Evangelia Paulk, who is currently leading the team in scoring (13.0 points/game), rebounding (8.4 rebounds/game) and steals (3.5 steals/game) this season. Paulk is two games removed from having recorded a triple-double in Wofford's 62-54 loss against Samford.
THE LAST TIME THEY MET
The last time the Mocs took on Furman, it came on Feb. 1 with the teams playing at North Greenville for Furman's "home game" of the season series. A tightly contested matchup, the Mocs ended up claiming a 68-60 victory over the Paladins thanks in large part to Caia Elisaldez scoring a career-high 24 points. Overall, the Mocs are 62-31 against the Paladins with a 28-11 record when hosting Furman. UTC has won each of its last six meetings with the Paladins. As for Wofford, the last time these two teams squared off came on Jan. 30 in Spartanburg, where the Terriers hung on to edge out the Mocs 57-54. The Mocs had four opportunities to tie the game with three-point shots, but unfortunately none of them fell as loss snapped what was a three-game win streak for UTC over the Terriers. Chattanooga leads the all-time series against Wofford 55-9, and when hosting the Terriers the Mocs have a record of 26-2.
TOP NOTES
• Gianna Corbitt has logged five double-doubles this season for the Mocs. Not only does this the most amongst all Southern Conference freshmen, but it's more than all of the other SoCon freshmen combined (3).
• Corbitt also ranks in the Top 10 in the entire NCAA when it comes to freshman double-doubles, as the Oakland Park, Florida, native is currently tied for the seventh-most double-doubles by a freshman in the nation.
• Corbitt leads all SoCon freshmen in rebounding (7.2 rebounds/game), steals (1.5 steals/ game) and blocks (0.8 blocks/game) while ranking fourth in scoring (10.3 points/game) this season.
• Logging 4.4 assists/game and already having 105 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 801 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 (145) and starts (142). She also actively ranks eighth in program history when it comes to career steals, with the Iceland native sitting at 192 over her UTC tenure. Six more steals would tie Olafsdottir for seventh in program history.
• Olafsdottir also has a team-high 61 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.
• The Mocs actively rank 15th in the nation in scoring defense, giving up an average of 55.0 points/game.
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