UTC's Jasmine Joyner, left, was named SoCon Player of the Week for the second straight week, while Keiana Gilbert, right, earned Player of the Week honors from College Sports Madness.
photo by Dennis Norwood/File
The Chattanooga women's basketball team will close out the regular season road slate Saturday afternoon at Western Carolina. The game is set to tip at 2 p.m. in the first of a double header.
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The Mocs are third in the league standings behind Mercer (8-1) and Samford (8-1). The two will play each other this weekend. A win would put the Mocs in second. After falling to the Bulldogs and Bears, UTC has won four straight games. Over that time, the Mocs averaged 66.2 points per game and 33.8 rebounds. Chattanooga leads the league in field goal percentage (.418) and leads the nation in blocked shots (6.8) while sitting second in scoring defense (54.6), free throw percentage (.715), rebounding defense (34.5) and 3-point field goal percentage defense (.252). The Mocs rank third nationally in fewest fouls per game (11.7) and third in 3-point field goal percentage defense.
Jasmine Joyner earned her second straight SoCon Player of the Week nod and Keiana Gilbert was named the College Sports Madness Player of the Week. Joyner leads the nation in blocked shots with 96 overall and 4.2 per game. She is ranked seventh in the league with a team-best 12.7 points per game and leads the SoCon with 9.3 rebounds and 4.2 blocks per game. Gilbert is second on the team in scoring with 12.1 points and third with 5.2 rebounds per game. Alicia Payne topped the 300 mark for career assists and is now ranked in the Top 10. Queen Alford has scored in double figures in eight of the last 10 games and is third on the team in scoring with 9.3 points per game.
Head Coach Jim Foster now has 858 career wins in his 38th season as a head coach. He is one win behind Montana's Robin Selvig and four shy of Andy Landers. He has more than 200 wins at each of his previous three schools – only the second coach in NCAA history to achieve that mark – and has 75 wins in his third season with the Mocs. He is the fastest women's coach at UTC to 75 wins.
The Catamounts lost a heart breaker to ETSU Thursday night when a last second layup didn't fall.WCU's two league wins came at home against Wofford and UNCG. The Cats aveage 62.2 points and 39.5 rebounds per game. Ace Easter is the only player in double figures with 11.8 points per game and Sherae Bonner, with 8.8 points per game, leads the team in rebounding with eight per game. Western Carolina's four seniors will be honored prior to the game Saturday the Catamounts four seniors will be playing their final game in the Ramsey Center.
The series between Chattanooga and Western Carolina dates back the late 1970's and is Chattanooga's longest running rivalry. The Mocs won the first 13 meetings. WCU won the next two before UTC ran off a 19 game win streak against the Catamounts. Chattanooga is currently riding a 10-game win streak against the Cats and have won 31 of the last 36 games. The Mocs have a 67-11 advantage against Western Carolina and are 32-5 in Chattanooga against the Catamounts.