CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The WNIT committee released the 48-team bracket late Monday night and revealed that the Lady Mocs will take on the Kentucky Wildcats for the third time in five years in the postseason. The game is set to be played Thursday at 7 p.m. at Memorial Coliseum.
The two teams have met five times since 1977 with Kentucky winning every meeting. The Wildcats finished the 2008-09 season at 15-15 overall and 5-9 in the SEC.
Kentucky defeated Furman 74-35 on Dec. 6 then fell to East Tennessee State 59-50 six days later. At Thanksgiving, UK defeated Yale on Nov. 28 then went on to beat host Long Island in the finals the next day to win the Courtyard LaGuardia Turkey Classic in Brooklyn, N.Y. The Wildcats split with Tennessee in the regular season and lost to Georgia in the opening round of the SEC tournament.
The Wildcats average 63.3 points per game and give up 61.1 to its opponents. On the boards, Kentucky averages 40.9 rebounds per game and gives up 36 an outing. UK averages 4.5 3-pointers per game and shoot 70.4 from the free throw line.
Six-foot-1 sophomore forward Victoria Dunlap leads the Wildcats with 12.6 points and 9.0 rebounds per game and senior Eleia Roddy, a 6-3 center, is second with 12.3 points and 8.2 rebounds per game.
Five-foot-11 guard Amani Franklin also averages in double digits with 11.4 ppg. She and Carly Morrow, a 5-11 sophomore guard from Chattanooga’s GPS, have combined for 91 of Kentucky’s 134 3-pointers on the year.
In a winner-take-all season finale at Samford, the Lady Mocs defeated the Southern Conference newcomer to claim a 10th consecutive regular season conference title. That win earned Chattanooga an automatic bid to the WNIT. The Lady Mocs closed out the season at 22-9 overall and 17-3 in league play. UTC received a first-round bye in the SoCon tournament then downed Appalachian State in the quarters before falling to the College of Charleston 53-51 in the semis.
Southern Conference Player of the Year, Shanara Hollinquest will lead the Lady Mocs into the postseason along with teammates Jenaya Wade-Fray and Erin Ogan.
Hollinquest led the SoCon in scoring (16.2) and field goal percentage and is ranked second in the league in rebounding with 7.9 boards per game. Wade-Fray is ranked sixth in the league in scoring and leads the Lady Mocs with 61 3-pointers on the year while Ogan, averaging 11.7 points per game, is third in the SoCon in rebounding (7.7) and ninth in 3-point field goal percentage making 39.1 percent of her attempts.