Jasmine Joyner shooting a jump shot against Sanford.
photo by Tim Evearitt
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga sophomore Jasmine Joyner (Southaven, Miss.) was named the College Sports Madness National Mid-Major Player of the Week and the team was selected the NCAA Team of the Week.
For the second time this season, the Mocs garnered national attention after defeating their second Top 10 team this season. In November, Chattanooga posted a stunning 67-63 win over then-No. 4 Tennessee then followed that up last week with a 54-46 win over then-No. 7 Stanford.
The Mocs held Stanford to less than 50 points and a season-low 27.7 shooting percentage.
The loss for the Cardinal was its first regular-season, non-conference loss to an unranked foe since falling at Saint Mary’s on Nov. 17, 2000.
The Mocs went on to win back-to-back contests in its own Christmas Classic defeating Morgan State 55-40 on Saturday and North Carolina A&T 58-43 on Sunday. The Mocs made 20-of-38 (52.6%) against the Aggies on Sunday, marking the third time this season UTC has shot better than 50 percent from the field.
Last week the Mocs held all three opponents to less than 35 percent shooting and have not allowed at least 50 points in four of the last five games. UTC has won five consecutive games and 45 of the last 46 at home.
Chattanooga went 3-0 last week and was selected the NCAA Team of the Week.
Joyner averaged 11 points and 12 rebounds on the week and added 17 blocks to move to second all-time at Chattanooga. In the Mocs’ win over then-No. 7 Stanford, she pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds, just missed a double-double with nine points and had five blocked shots.
On Saturday, the 6-2 center recorded seven blocked shots against Morgan State, the most of any UTC player in the McKenzie Arena, and moved to second all-time at UTC on the blocked shot list. She followed that up with five rejections on Sunday to lead the Mocs to a sweep in their Christmas Classic.
She posted back-to-back doubles-doubles in the tournament with 14 points and 13 rebounds against the Bears and had 10 points and 12 boards in the win over the Aggies in the finale. Joyner also recorded her first-ever 3-pointer, dropping in the long ranger as the shot clock wound down in the first half against Morgan State.
The is Chattanooga second player this season and third in the last three years to be named the CSM National Mid-Major Player of the Week. Freshman Keiana Gilbert (Columbia, Tenn.) earned the honor after the Mocs’ wins over Austin Peay and then-No. 4 Tennessee while Taylor Hall (New Tazewell, Tenn. ’14) earned in 2012 following the Mocs’ win over then-No. 20 Tennessee.
In the AP Top 25 poll this week, the Mocs received 11 points and are just five spots out of the Top 25. Tennessee moved up to eighth after getting a win over Stanford and the Cardinal fell to No. 16. The USA Today Coaches Poll and College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 will be released Tuesday.
Chattanooga, with a short holiday break, will leave for San Antonio Friday morning for the UTSA Holiday Classic. The Mocs will face SIU Edwardsville on Sunday, Dec. 28 and South Dakota the next day. Follow all the action at GoMocs.com.