CHARLOTTE NC – The bracket is set for Monday night’s Southern Conference women’s championship game at Time Warner Arena. The #1 Lady Mocs will meet #2 Samford, a winner over Appalachian State in the second semi-final match of the day.
Earlier in the day, Chattanooga defeated Georgia Southern, 60-49. The win was the fortieth for UTC in Southern Conference tournament play. Their overall record in the SoCon Tournament is now 40-14. This will be the first meeting between UTC and Samford in tournament play.
Samford defeated Appalachian State in the second semi of the afternoon, 66-53.
The game will be televised by SportSouth at 5p.m. on Monday evening.
Chattanooga will be led by two-time conference Player of the Year Shanara Hollinquest, along with Jenaya Wade-Fray. Kayla Christopher, a freshman starter, along with sophomore Tenisha Townsend will join the two seniors in the starting line-up.
With the finger fracture to senior forward Megan Rollins in Sunday’s win over the Lady Eagles, red-shirt freshman Michelle Davis may be called upon in a starting role against Samford.
During the season Davis averaged 7.4 points per game 4.8 rebounds while playing an average of 19 minutes per game.
Hollinquest averaged 16.8 points per game with nine rebounds per game and Wade-Fray tallied 13.3 markers per game and grabbed an average of 5.9 boards.
Samford will be led by a trio of guards – Megan Wilderotter, Monica Maxwell and Emily London. All three are potent from beyond the arc, with London leading the Southern Conference this past season.
They also have two forwards who can score in the post, Hannah Dawson and Savannah Hill. Off the bench look for Alex Crow to contribute.
The Lady Mocs won their 11th straight season championship this past year, an accomplishment that put them in lofty company nationally. They are just the fifth team in Division I history to win 11 or more conferences championships in a row.
Chattanooga is now tied with UW-Green Bay for the longest active streak. Others with 11 or more championships are Old Dominion (12), UC Santa Barbara (11), Connecticutt (11), and UW-Green Bay (11).
(You can email Dennis Norwood at sportswriter56@comcast.net)