CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The Chattanooga Women's Basketball kept rolling with its sixth win in a row on Saturday, defeating Furman 61-42 in McKenzie Arena behind a strong defensive performance. It's the first six-game win streak since it won 12 games in a row in the 2023-24 season.

Records
Chattanooga: 10-5, 2-0 SoCon
Furman: 9-8, 1-1 SoCon

Leading the Mocs in scoring was Caia Elisaldez with 19 points on 56.2% (9-16) shooting. She played all but one minute of the game. Another key player for Chattanooga was Gianna Corbitt, as she posted her third double-double of the year with 10 points and 13 rebounds. She has 29 rebounds across her last two games.

The Paladins really struggled to score in the first quarter, as they were held to just five points. On the other hand, the Mocs were 53.3% (8-15) from the floor and raced out to a 20-5 lead. Elisaldez anchored the hot start offensively with an early 11 points. 

Behind a 9-2 run in the second quarter, Chattanooga pushed its lead to 31-12. Ava Card, Izzy McPherson, Frode Flos van der Schans all scored during the run. However, the Mocs went scoreless in the final 2:35 of the quarter, allowing Furman to cut the lead to 31-17 at the break.

The third quarter was back-and-forth as the Paladins kept the Mocs from extending their lead. Elisaldez had Chattanooga's final basket of the quarter, which was a transition lay in to make it 47-33. Furman had an answer in its final possession though, cutting the lead back to 12 as the game entered the fourth quarter.

A 7-0 run for Chattanooga to start the fourth quarter that spanned over three minutes, ended any thoughts of a Furman comeback. A 3-pointer by Corbitt in the middle of that run, proved to be a big shot that really got the Mocs crowd going. Furman cut the lead to 14 points at the 3:31 mark, but that was as close as it would get.

Defensively, the Mocs held Furman to just 27.6% (16-58) from the field. In Chattanooga's last two games, it has allowed just 86 points, its 11^th fewest in a two-game stretch of SoCon opponents in program history.

On the flip side, Chattanooga shot the ball at a 46% (23-50) rate. The Mocs had 11 fast break points while the Paladins had none.

QUOTES:
Head Coach Deandra Schirmer
"I feel like going into conference, everybody was kind of neck and neck. We didn't really know who was going to be the leader of the pack and where everybody was going to stand. We knew that this week was going to be a big week for us because we were going to face, in my opinion, two of the top teams in conference. It was really going to be a measuring stick of where we're at and where we need to get to. I could not be more proud of our group in how they responded, and how they came out to hold a really talented team to two single-digit quarters. It showcases how our defense is starting to hit stride, and how we're buying into the process of what we're doing."
"I think it starts with these two in this room (Caia Elisaldez & Gianna Corbitt). They're two very talented players that are bought in and leading at both ends of the floor. The defensive effort is what's going to win it for us. The other thing that's nice is when we're getting steals, we're also getting runouts where we turn our defense into offense."

Gianna Corbitt, So.-G/F
"I just try do what I need to do for the team to win. Whether I'm hitting shots or not, I just I know if I'm out there defensively, that's what I need to do to stop the other team winning. I've always prided myself on defense, but it's just when (Coach Schirmer) challenges us, especially in practice, I kind of say it's personal. Because it's like, we want team success, and for that to happen, we all kind of like she said, we have to 'be bought in'. So, for us to do it as a team,  we individually have to start and check ourselves and hold ourselves accountable with what we're working on."

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