The top-seeded Chattanooga Mocs made Southern Conference history on Saturday by earning its third consecutive NCAA Tournament berth with a 66-52 victory over the third-seeded Eagles of Georgia Southern in the Championship game of the Southern Conference Tournament at the North Charleston Coliseum.
“Team” has been the name of the game for the Mocs all season as nine UTC players have averaged more than five but less than 10 points per game this year. That trend continued on Saturday with the Mocs utilizing nine of the 13 weapons in its arsenal in the first half alone. Of those nine players, eight scored in the first period and all-freshman selection Katasha Brown paved the way with nine points, while Heather McDivitt contributed seven. The Mocs led by 14 at the half, 33-19, but GSU was able to hang around despite an almost eight-minute field goal drought, by outrebounding UTC 26-21 and outscoring the Mocs on second chance points by a 7-0 margin.
Georgia Southern regrouped at halftime and shut down the Mocs’ three-point game in the second period while turning up its own offense. Both teams scored 33 points in the period and an 8-0 GSU run put the Eagles within six points of the Mocs, but Georgia Southern could not close the final gap.
Jennifer Wilson led Chattanooga’s overall effort, with 12 points and 13 rebounds, making her the Mocs’ third different scoring leader in the three tournament games.
Heather McDivitt, SoCon Tournament Most Outstanding Player Miranda Warfield, and Brown each scored 11 in the final game, while Katie Galloway topped playmaking with four assists.
Mimi Lindsey topped the Eagle effort on the day with 16 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, fueling GSU’s 46-42 rebounding advantage. Jessica Everett and Tiffany Lanier scored eight points each with Lanier dishing off a team-high three assists.
With the win, Chattanooga improves to 26-4 on the year and ties its own league record for consecutive tournament titles, with three.
The Mocs’ NCAA Tournament bid is the fifth for Chattanooga in its storied women’s basketball history.

Author