Foster Is SoCon Coach Of The Year

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Second year head coach of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Mocs women's basketball team, Jim Foster, was announced Tuesday as the 2014-2015 Southern Conference Coach of the Year. Foster led the Mocs to a 26-3 (14-0) regular season record and a #17 national ranking, UTC's highest ever. The Mocs open play Thursday in the conference post-season tournament in Asheville, NC. UTC will face UNCG at noon in Kimmel Arena.
photo by Dennis Norwood

UTC head coach Jim Foster was named the Southern Conference Coach of the Year by both the league coaches and media and junior Alicia Payne (Memphis, Tenn.) was named the SoCon Defensive Player of the Year. Senior Kayla Freeman (Carlton, Ga.) received the Ann Lashley Inspiration Award and UTC put two on the all-conference team and one on the all-freshman team.

Foster led the Mocs to a 26-3 overall season and their second straight undefeated league record in his second year at the helm.

Chattanooga has won 22 straight games to close out the regular season and posted wins over Top 10 foes Tennessee and Stanford. Under his guidance, UTC has reached its highest ever ranking in the AP Top 25 poll and entered the USA Today Coaches Poll for the first time.

Payne, a “pesky” guard, earned the league’s Defensive Player of the Year nod despite not making either all-conference teams. She anchored a defense that allowed just 50.3 points per game, best in the SoCon and third nationally in fewest points allowed per game. She ranks first in the league with a 2.7 assist-turnover ratio, fourth for assists per game (3.6) and sixth in steals per game (1.9). She had 53 steals on the year, 35 against the league and a career-high seven in her final game of the regular season. In the Mocs’ win over Western Carolina at home, she recorded a career-high three blocked shots and had eight for the season. She is the second straight Chattanooga player to earn defensive honors, as Taylor Hall received the award last season.

Freeman, a senior forward, was named the recipient of the Ann Lashley Inspiration Award. This award honors a student-athlete or coach who has shown outstanding courage or service. It is presented in memory of former Elon women’s basketball associate head coach Ann Lashley, who passed away on November 10, 2005 after a six-month battle with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

As a junior, Freeman suffered a career-ending injury to her left foot, as her arch collapsed and had to be surgically reconstructed. As a result, Freeman was forced to retire from the game as the lateral movement necessary to play basketball would be impossible.

Despite her injury, Freeman remained a part of the team, always willing to do whatever she can to help her teammates both on and off the court. She remains involved with the team in different ways from assisting the coaching staff with various tasks to assisting her teammates at practices during drills.

Additionally, Freeman has maintained a 3.85 grade point average, despite spending countless hours in doctors’ offices and physical therapy sessions. She continues to impress others with her mental toughness and work ethic, which has earned her great respect from everyone she encounters, especially her teammates and coaches. She will graduate from UTC this spring with a degree in Psychology and will begin graduate school in the fall at Georgia Regents University.

Sophomores Jasmine Joyner (Southaven, Miss.) and Chelsey Shumpert (Paducah, Ky.) were both selected to the All-Conference First team by both the league coaches and media while Keiana Gilbert (Columbia, Tenn.) earned a spot on the all-freshman teams.

Joyner broke a 26-year-old Southern Conference record for blocked shots in a single season with 118 and is fifth in the nation with a SoCon-best 4.1 per game. She is second on the team in scoring (11.5) and leads UTC with 7.7 rebounds per game. She ranks sixth in the league for field goal percentage making 51.9 percent of her attempts and 10^th for steals (1.4). On the boards she is 14 for offensive rebounds (2.0) and third for defensive rebounds (5.8).

Shumpert leads the Mocs with 11.7 points per game and was a two-time SoCon Player of the Week. She averages 2.6 assists per game and made 44.4 percent of her attempts from the field. From beyond the arc, she ranks seventh in the SoCon for 3-point field goal percentage (.372) and third for 3-pointers made (2.1) while grabbing 1.4 steals per game.

Gilbert was selected to the SoCon Coaches and Media all-freshman teams. She led Chattanooga to a win over then-No. 4 ranked Tennessee to earn National Player of the Week honors by ESPNW and was the College Sports Madness National Mid-Major Player of the Week while the SoCon named her Freshman of the Week twice.

Mercer’s Precious Bridges was named the SoCon Player of the Year in both polls and her teammate Kahlia Lawrence was named the SoCon Freshman of the Year by both.

2015 SoCon Women’s Basketball Coaches Awards

First-Team All-Conference

Precious Bridges, Mercer

Chelsey Shumpert, Chattanooga

Jasmine Joyner, Chattanooga

Whitney Bunn, Furman

Brittany Hodges, Furman

Second-Team All-Conference

Serena Clark, ETSU

Hannah Nichols, Samford

Destiny Mitchell, ETSU

Taylor Reece, Samford