Chattanooga women’s basketball wrapped up a blemish-free weekend in the Sunshine State late Saturday night, as UTC was able to knock off Northern Kentucky by a score of 63-47 to finish undefeated at the 2023 Daytona Beach Classic.
The Mocs (6-1, 0-0 SoCon) continue to showcase a dominant shooting stroke against the Norse (1-4, 0-0 Horizon) with Chattanooga having now shot at least 40 percent from field goal range in every game of the 2023-24 season so far. With the win, UTC joins Dayton as one of only two teams to finish the tournament with a perfect 2-0 record.
10 total teams were in attendance at this year’s event at the Ocean Center.
NKU scored the very first bucket of the night, which was quickly answered by the Mocs not long after. That would be the first, last and only lead of the night for the Norse, as UTC proceeded to dominant the remainder of the night against Northern Kentucky.
Even despite early foul trouble from Raven Thompson, who played just four minutes of the first half, Chattanooga fought through a very physical NKU squad by picking the Norse apart from behind the arc. Both Sigrun Olafsdottir and Hannah Kohn connected on three three-point baskets a piece for UTC in the first half, helping the Mocs build up a 30-22 halftime advantage.
Fouls and bodies continued to fly in the second half, but UTC continued to stick to its gameplan as this time the usual leading-scorers for the Mocs, Jada Guinn and Raven Thompson, shouldered the load. Guinn continued to be put at the line for Chattanooga, as the grad student ended up scoring 10 of her team-high 18 points from the charity stripe, marking a career-high for her when it comes to free throws made.
Not only did Guinn get involved via her shooting, but the Oak Ridge, Tennessee, native was crucial for the Mocs on the boards as she brought down a team-high nine rebounds, just one shy of having her earn her fourth collegiate double-double. Thompson also got heavily involved for the Mocs, scoring 14 total points and grabbing eight rebounds to follow up her double-double performance from a night ago.
The lead only got as close as 12 points in the final quarter of action, and UTC was able to steamroll through their competition to grab a 63-47 win to close out their time in Daytona Beach. With the win, Coach Poppie and his crew is now off to the best start to a Chattanooga women’s basketball season since 2012-13, when that year’s team having started the year 9-1.
Besides Guinn’s 18 points and Thompson’s 14, Olafsdottir would finish with a season-high 11 points while Hannah Kohn tallied nine. Addie Grace Porter led the way with a season-high six assists on the night, while Jada Guinn’s four steal performance marked yet another season-high for her on the weekend.
Chattanooga finished the Daytona Beach Classic a perfect 2-0. Only UTC and Dayton ended the tournament undefeated of the 10 teams in attendance.
The Mocs have now started the season 6-1, the best start for UTC under Shawn Poppie.
UTC will now have a short break before heading to Kennesaw State on Wednesday, November 29 to take on the Owls. Tipoff for the Mocs is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET, with a stream of the game being made available on ESPN+ as well as over the radio on 96.1 FM/100.3 FM/1070 AM.