Chattanooga women's basketball suffered its first loss in 13 games on Saturday, with the Mocs falling victim to UNC Greensboro after a late surge from the Spartans gave them a 68-64 victory.
The Mocs (23-4, 11-1 SoCon) saw themselves up by as much as 12 points on the Spartans (18-10, 7-6 SoCon) at one point during the game, but a high-scoring fourth quarter by UNCG helped hand the Mocs their first SoCon loss of the season in the team's final home game of the year.
Things were dicey for the Mocs early-on, with UNC Greensboro jumping out to a 9-5 lead through the opening five minutes.
Chattanooga was able to get the train back on the rails in a hurry, though, with UTC going on a 9-2 scoring run to end the quarter with a 14-11 lead on UNCG.
The Spartans were able to hang around for a solid chunk of the second quarter, with UNCG cutting the lead down to as little as three. However a big-time Addie Grace Porter three-pointer for the Mocs helped the team build that lead right back up, as UTC took a 33-25 advantage into the halftime break.
Starting to get into a groove, the Mocs put together a strong third quarter that primarily rested on the offensive prowess of
Jada Guinn. Down to just 31 seconds left in the frame, Chattanooga had built up their largest lead of the day, leading the Spartans 46-34. While UNCG was able to connect on one last three-pointer before the end of the quarter, the Mocs still held onto a nine-point lead headed into the fourth.
That lead would quickly disappear as things got under way in the fourth, with the Spartans ripping off a rapid 9-1 run to trail 47-43. UNCG didn't relent, finally retaking the lead from the Mocs at the 6:49 mark of the final quarter. While the Mocs were able to hang around with the Spartans, time was draining off of the clock and UNCG continued to remain a possession or two ahead of UTC.
Some late shots falling by the Mocs and missed free throws by the Spartans gave Chattanooga a last gasp, but it was too little too late for UTC as foul trouble would catch up with the squad. Finding three of the team's starters out with five fouls, the Mocs could do nothing but watch as the clock hit zero with the final score reading 68-64 in favor of the Spartans.
Jada Guinn ended her day with a 26-point, eight-rebound performance for the Mocs, both team-highs. This marks her 10
th game scoring 20+ points this season, as well as her fourth game with 25+ on the year.
Raven Thompson also ended her day in double-digits, scoring 11.
FROM THE HEAD COACH | QUOTES
Opening Statement
"Credit to Greensboro, especially in the second half. They just made more plays than we did. We've got some soul-searching to do, but maybe it's a good time since we've still got two more on the road. This is what you try to protect them from after an emotional game and celebration on Thursday, and I didn't do my job to get them all the way prepared. A lot of credit goes to Greensboro, they did a lot of things that bothered us. We're gonna have to watch some film and adjust and play a little bit better."
TOP TAKEAWAYS | NOTES
- Today marked the 64th meeting between Chattanooga and UNCG.
- The Mocs lead the all-time series 50-14.
- UTC is now 23-5 when hosting the Spartans.
- The last time the Mocs lost to UNCG in McKenzie Arena came on February 21, 2021.
- The Mocs now split the season series with UNCG, 1-1.
- Chattanooga now sees its 12-game win streak snapped.
- It also snapped a 15-game SoCon win streak that extended into last season.
- Marks the first loss for UTC in the 2024 calendar year.
- Mocs now move to 12-1 in SoCon play.
- Also snapped an 11-game home win streak in McKenzie Arena.
- The Mocs are now 12-2 at home this season, with the only two losses coming today and against Marshall on November 12.
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Shawn Poppie is now 20-6 in Southern Conference games at UTC.
- Coach Poppie has led the Mocs to his second consecutive 20-win season, with UTC sitting at a 23-4 record overall this season.
- Poppie is now just the second coach in program history to have 20-win seasons in each of his first two seasons with the team.
- The other coach was Jim Foster, who had 29-win seasons in 2013-14 and 2014-15.
- Coach Poppie now has a career record of 2-2 when coaching against UNC Greensboro.
- Starters: Porter, Guinn, Olafsdottir, Thompson and Murphy. This starting five now is now 21-3 on the year.
- Guinn and Thompson have now accounted for 892 of Chattanooga's 1,732 total points on the year (51.5 percent of team's scoring output).
- UTC has now led 24 out of 27 games this season at the half.
- The Mocs at one point led by 12 points over the Spartans. This marks the team's largest blown lead in a loss this season.
- UTC was out-scored 31-18 by the Spartans in the fourth quarter.
- UNCG's 31 fourth quarter points were the most scored by a UTC opponent in a quarter this season.
UP NEXT: FURMAN/WOFFORD
UTC will now hit the road for one last week of SoCon action, as the Mocs are first set to take on Furman (14-13, 4-7 SoCon) on Thursday, February 29 at 7 p.m. ET. The Mocs will then close out their regular season on Saturday by traveling to Spartanburg to battle with Wofford (15-11, 7-5 SoCon) at 2 p.m. ET. The team then turns its focus to the SoCon Tournament, set to run March 7-10 in Asheville, North Carolina. Chattanooga has already secured the tournament's No. 1 seed and will face Western Carolina (6-22, 1-12 SoCon) at 11 a.m. ET in the SoCon Quarterfinals on Thursday, March 7.
50 SEASONS OF CHATTANOOGA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
The 2023 season for the Chattanooga women's basketball team marks a major landmark for the program and the university, as UTC women's basketball officially celebrates its 50th season of competition as a university sponsored athletic program. Following the adoption of the Title IX legislation back in 1972, UTC added women's basketball, tennis and volleyball programs to its roster of athletic teams, bringing on five decades of history and success for each of the teams. Chattanooga WBB will be putting on multiple promotions and content pieces throughout the 2023-24 season to celebrate the program's history, culminating in the team hosting its 50th Season Celebration and Reunion during the Mocs' February 3 matchup against Furman at McKenzie Arena.