CHATTANOOGA --- Chattanooga women's basketball is set to host some postseason basketball at the Roundhouse this Saturday, as the Mocs welcome Alabama A&M to the Scenic City for the First Round of the 2025 Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT).
The Mocs (16-14, 9-5 SoCon) will get at least one more home game this season in front of the McKenzie Arena faithful after being selected to host Saturday's opening round matchup with the Bulldogs (21-10, 14-4 SWAC). This will mark the seventh all-time appearance in the WNIT for UTC and the first WNIT appearance by the Mocs since 2018.
Saturday's game is set for a 5 p.m. ET tip in the Roundhouse and will be available to stream on ESPN+. Fans can also catch the radio broadcast of the game either on WFLI's main flagship stations of through The Varsity app. While not currently available, the ESPN+ stream link for Saturday's game can eventually be found on the Chattanooga women's basketball schedule page on GoMocs.com.
The winner of Saturday's Chattanooga/Alabama A&M game will advance to the WNIT Second Round, where the Troy Trojans (20-13, 13-5 Sun Belt) are currently waiting. Troy received a bye through the First Round of the tournament. The Second Round of the WNIT is tentatively set for Tuesday, March 25. The site location for Tuesday's game has yet to be decided.
GAME DAY INFORMATION
Opponent: Alabama A&M (21-10, 14-4 SWAC)
Date: Saturday, March 22
Time: 5:00 p.m. ET
Follow the game live online on ESPN+, WFLI, The Varsity app of the GoMocs App. Links are available online at GoMocs.com.
ABOUT CHATTANOOGA (16-14, 9-5 SoCon)
The Mocs suffered a heartbreaking end to their 2025 SoCon Tournament, falling to UNCG 64-57 in overtime of the title game on Sunday, March 9. However, when looking at the full scope of UTC's 2024-25 season, it truly is remarkable that the Mocs ended up finding the success that they did under first-year head coach Deandra Schirmer. The Mocs will now have another opportunity to play in front of their home fans in McKenzie Arena this Saturday, a venue where UTC holds a 9-5 record this season. Chattanooga's defense has been a focal point for Coach Schirmer, as the Mocs rank in the Top 40 in the entire NCAA in scoring defense (21st – 55.9 points allowed/game), three-point percentage defense (25th – 27.4 percent) and field goal percentage defense (36th – 37.4 percent) this season. As for individual standouts, it's hard to find a hotter hand right now for the Mocs than senior Karsen Murphy, who lit up the 2025 SoCon Tournament enroute to being named a First Team All-Tournament selection. During UTC's three-game run in Asheville, Murphy averaged 13.3 points/game, 4.0 rebounds/game, 1.3 blocks/game and 1.0 steals/game. First Team All-SoCon guard Caia Elisaldez is another ball of energy that the Mocs will lean on this Saturday, as Elisaldez is just the fourth Moc since the year 2000 to end a season as the team leader in both scoring (13.9 points/game) and assists (4.7 assists/game).
ABOUT ALABAMA A&M (21-10, 14-4 SWAC)
Just like the Mocs, the Bulldogs put together an amazing 2024-25 season under first-year head coach Dawn E. Thornton, finishing 21-10 overall as well as 14-4 in the SWAC. Their record was good enough to secure the Bulldogs the No. 3 seed in the SWAC Tournament, but AAMU ended up falling in a tightly-contested quarterfinal against Alcorn State, losing 56-53. If there were only two things that Alabama A&M could hone in on in this Saturday against the Mocs, it would be drawing fouls and forcing turnovers. A very chaotic style of play, the Bulldogs thrive on drawing fouls from their opponents and getting to the free throw line. In fact, AAMU currently ranks second in the entire NCAA in free throw attempts/game (24.7) this season while also ranking sixth in the nation in free throws made/game (16.7). The Bulldogs also rank 24th in turnovers forced/game (20.3) and 32nd in steals/game (10.5), thanks in large part to their press on defense. The main women to watch for Alabama A&M are leading scorer Kalia Walker, who is averaging 14.8 points/game this season, as well as Alisha Wilson, who is nearly averaging a double-double on the year with 11.5 points/game and 9.5 rebounds/game averages. Walker and Wilson were both First Team All-SWAC honorees for the regular season.
THE LAST TIME THEY MET
It's been a while since Chattanooga and Alabama A&M have met on the women's basketball hardwood. In fact, it's a fairly uncommon occurrence in and of itself over UTC's 51 seasons of women's basketball history, as these two teams have only met twice before this Saturday WNIT clash. The last time these two teams played came back on Dec. 6, 2008 in a non-conference battle at McKenzie Arena. Not only was Chattanooga victorious in this game, but the Mocs ended up dismantling the Bulldogs in what ended up being an 87-29 blowout in favor of UTC. A total of five Mocs finished as double-digit scorers for Chattanooga with Shanara Hollinquest leading the way with 16 points. A true highlight of the game for the Mocs came when UTC ripped off a 34-0 scoring run on AAMU, building up a massive advantage that the team would carry up to the final buzzer. UTC's 59-point win over Alabama A&M that day marked the fourth-largest margin of victory in program history. All-time the Mocs are 1-1 against Alabama A&M, as the year before in 2007 the Mocs were handed a 67-63 loss when playing the Bulldogs in Huntsville. This will be the first time these two teams will meet in postseason play.
TOP NOTES
• Chattanooga's all-time WNIT record: 4-6
• Number of times UTC has been in WNIT (including this year): 7
• Last time UTC earned WNIT bid: 2020 (cancelled due to COVID)
• Last time UTC played in WNIT: 2018
• Last time UTC won a WNIT game: 2005 (Chattanooga won 50-40 against Villanova in the First Round)
• The farthest UTC has made it in the WNIT was in 1984, when the Mocs reached the WNIT title game before falling 67-66 to Vanderbilt to finish as the tournament runners-up.
• UTC is the only SoCon school to ever reach the WNIT title game in the conference's history.
• This is only the third all-time meeting between Chattanooga and Alabama A&M, and the first meeting since 2008. The Mocs are 1-0 when hosting the Bulldogs. This is also the first time these two teams have met in the postseason.
• Caia Elisaldez earned First Team All-SoCon honors at the conclusion of the regular season. She was joined by Sigrun Olafsdottir and Gianna Corbitt when it came to postseason recognition, with Olafsdottir being named to the All-Defensive Team and Corbitt the All-Freshman Team.
• Karsen Murphy and Caia Elisaldez both received spots on the SoCon's All-Tournament First Team. Gianna Corbitt earned Second Team All-Tournament honors as well.
• Deandra Schirmer is just the third head coach in UTC's 51-season history to lead the Mocs to the SoCon Tournament title game in their first season as the program's head coach. She joins Shawn Poppie and Jim Foster on that prestigious list.
• Chattanooga actively ranks 21st in the entire NCAA when it comes to scoring defense this season, only allowing 55.9 points/game
CHATTANOOGA WBB ALL-TIME WNIT APPEARANCES & RESULTS
1984 WNIT (Chattanooga Record: 26-5)
First Round: Chattanooga def. Oklahoma, 84-78
Semifinals: Chattanooga def. Clemson, 70-66
Championship: Vanderbilt def. Chattanooga, 67-66
2000 WNIT (Chattanooga Record: 26-5)
First Round: Chattanooga def. Alabama, 70-68
Second Round: Georgia Tech def. Chattanooga, 81-74
2005 WNIT (Chattanooga Record: 25-5)
First Round: Chattanooga def. Villanova, 50-40
Second Round: Kentucky def. Chattanooga, 91-54
2009 WNIT (Chattanooga Record: 22-10)
First Round: Kentucky def. Chattanooga, 81-76 (OT)
2012 WNIT (Chattanooga Record: 22-10)
First Round: Memphis def. Chattanooga, 60-59
2018 WNIT (Chattanooga Record: 17-13)
First Round: UAB def. Chattanooga, 60-50
2020 WNIT (Chattanooga Record: 11-18)
Tournament cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2025 WNIT (Chattanooga Record: 16-14)
First Round: Chattanooga vs. Alabama A&M
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