The 2017-18 regular season for the University of Tennessee at Chattanoga women’s basketball team will draw to a close Saturday, February 24 at Samford.
The Mocs and Bulldogs first met in 1998 before Samford joined the Southern Conference. The first matchup went overtime with UTC coming out the winner. Chattanooga leads the series 21-7 and 14-5 in the SoCon regular season. The game between the two at the Roundhouse was decided in overtime with the Mocs winning 68-58.
The Mocs are 16-11 on the year and 7-6 in SoCon action.
UTC leads the nation in fewest personal fouls per game committing just 12.2 per game. The Mocs have committed 10 or fewer 12 times this season including a season-low five against Western Carolina and six at Wofford. UTC is 21st in the NCAA for scoring defense and second in the SoCon, allowing opponents just 55.7 points per game. The Mocs have held opponents to less than 60 points 18 times this season. UTC has held foes to a 27.5 percent effort from beyond the 3-point line, ranking 17th in the nation and second in the league. Chattanooga had a season-high nine blocked shots against ETSU and is ranked 73rd in the NCAA with 4.2 per game and lead the Southern Conference. The Mocs are second in the Southern Conference in 3-point shooting, averaging 5.9 per game in 3-point field goal percentage (.350).
The Mocs have used seven different starting lineups this season and 11 different player have made at least one start including all five freshmen. Brooke Burns and Mya Long each posted career-bests against Mercer in the Mocs last outing. Burns had 21 points and was 2-of-3 from the 3-point line. Long made her first start against the Bears and had 15 points.
Samford enters the game with a record of 14-14 overall and 6-7 in Southern Conference play. The Bulldogs are coming off a 64-52 setback to ETSU Thursday evening. The Bulldogs lead the SoCon in 3-pointers made per game (6.0). The Bulldogs also rank second in the league in assists per game (14.0), free throw percentage (.730) and defensive rebound percentage (.695). Samford ranks third in the league in scoring defense (61.5 ppg.) and assist/turnover ratio (0.9).
Charity Brown ranks second in the Southern Conference in both assists per game (5.6) and assist/turnover ratio (1.8). Olivia Crozier ranks second in the league in field goal percentage (.542), while Hannah Nichols ranks second in defensive rebounds (6.2), third in rebounds (7.0), fourth in three-pointers made (1.8) and fifth in three-point percentage (.361). Samford is led in scoring and rebounding by Nichols, averaging 13.1 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. Crozier averages 8.8 points and 5.2 boards per contest.
The last time the Mocs had at least six losses against the SoCon was the 2010-11 season. UTC was 13-7 overall and finished third in the regular season.