The Southern Conference coaches and media picked the Chattanooga women’s basketball team to repeat as conference champions, the league office announced today. Senior Jasmine Joyner was picked the preseason favorite for Player of the Year in the coaches’ poll and is joined on the All-Conference team by senior Queen Alford and junior Keiana Gilbert.
The Mocs tied with Mercer last season for its fourth straight and 20th overall Southern Conference regular season title. Chattanooga went on to claim its fourth consecutive SoCon Tournament crown with a win over regular season co-champion Mercer in the final.
Joyner, a two-time all-conference performer, was named the 2015 SoCon Tournament Most Outstanding Player.
She set the Chattanooga record for career blocked shots and ranks second all-time in the Southern Conference. She has ranked in the Top 5 in the NCAA in the last two years and last year led the nation for rejections for most of the season. Her 132 blocked shots in her sophomore season set the league mark and she holds the record for most blocked shots in the conference tournament and in a UTC single game.
In each of the last two seasons, Joyner has led Chattanooga in both scoring and rebounding. She had a career-best 31 points against UT Martin and matched her career-high for rebounds with 20 at Furman. She was twice named the College Sports Madness SoCon Player of the Week and earned the honor from the conference three times. Following the Mocs’ win over No. 7 Stanford in her sophomore year, Joyner was named the National Mid-Major Player of the Week by CSM.
After sitting out a season due to NCAA transfer rules, senior Queen Alford eventually regained the starting position she had held for two seasons at Jacksonville. The Decatur, Ga., native earned All-Conference honors last season and was selected to the SoCon All-Tournament team. She started 22 of 32 games and earned SoCon Player of the Week honors. She was third on the team in scoring and led the Mocs in 3-pointers made. In just three season at two schools, she topped the 1,000-point mark for her career with 1,067.
Junior Keiana Gilbert (Columbia, Tenn.) was named all-conference last season by both the coaches and media and named to the SoCon All-Tournament team. She was selected the College Sports Madness SoCon Player of the Week twice and as a freshman was named the ESPNW National Player of the Week following the Mocs’ wins over Austin Peay and No. 4 Tennessee. Against the Lady Vols, she tallied a career-high 27 points and was also named the CSM National Mid-Major Player of the Week. Last season, she was second on the team in scoring and rebounding and shot 48.6 percent from the field.
Chattanooga opens the season on the road at Rutgers on November 11. The teams have only met once with the Mocs earning a first-round win over the Scarlet Knights in the 2004 NCAA Tournament hosted by Chattanooga.
The Mocs’ home season begins on November 14 against Florida who finished the 2015-16 season ranked 25th in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. Three days later Chattanooga will take on Indiana in the Roundhouse after falling to the Hoosiers last year in Bloomington.
Tickets are on sale now at the McKenzie Arena box office by calling 423.266.MOCS (6627) or online at GoMocs.com. Follow the action all year with season tickets!
2016-17 Preseason All-Conference Team
Shamauria Bridges, ETSU
Tianna Tarter, ETSU
Whitney Bunn, Furman
Kahlia Lawrence, Mercer
Sydni Means, Mercer
Hannah Nichols, Samford
Queen Alford, Chattanooga
Jasmine Joyner, Chattanooga
Keiana Gilbert, Chattanooga
Ace Easter, Western Carolina
2016-17 Preseason Player of the Year
Jasmine Joyner, Chattanooga