Note: The following was written by Todd Vinyard, who will be blogging throughout the 2015-16 basketball and wrestling seasons as teams prepare to head to Asheville, N.C., in March.
In less than two weeks, the journey to Asheville ends with the 2016 Southern Conference Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships presented by General Shale and the 2016 Arby’s Southern Conference Wrestling Championship. With some help from the conference and school media relations offices, here is a recap of the most recent news on the way to Asheville.
What We’ve Learned
Mocs on the move: Chattanooga’s women’s basketball team is back in a familiar spot – near the top of the Southern Conference standings.
Chattanooga beat Samford 53-30 to improve to 19-7 overall and 10-2 in league play. The Mocs are in second place, percentage points behind Mercer heading into Thursday night’s action.
The Mocs’ defense turned it on against the Bulldogs by allowing the fewest points in a SoCon women’s game this year. Chattanooga has won six straight. The Mocs face Mercer on Saturday.
“Some teams grow at different rates,” Chattanooga coach Jim Foster told the Chattanooga Times-Free Press. “Some start fast and hold on, but this team has just figured a lot of stuff out, and as players feel comfortable with what they’ve figured out, it’s just made us better at both ends of the floor.”
Wrestling regular-season title shared: The SoCon wrestling season ended with three teams sharing the title. Appalachian State, Gardner-Webb and UTC all finished with 6-1 records.
Chattanooga has won or shared the SoCon regular-season title 16 times. The Mountaineers clinched a share of their first league title since 2012. And Gardner-Webb had a special year with school-record totals in dual wins (eight) and SoCon wins (six).
Coming Up
Saturday could be a big day for sorting out the SoCon women’s regular-season title chase. The four teams at the top will all be meeting in games.
Mercer visits Chattanooga at 2 p.m. and Samford is at ETSU at 7 p.m. Both games will be on ESPN3.
Names To Know
Chris Johnson completed senior day in style at SIUE with an 8-0 heavyweight win over Campbell’s Jere Heino to give his wrestling team a victory.
Senior Paul Duggan will be honored Friday before Campbell’s final home match, against Davidson.
In her first start since December, Chloe Wanink of Wofford posted 13 points and five rebounds against Furman on Saturday. She was 3-for-3 from 3-point range.
ETSU freshman Raven Dean scored with 50 seconds remaining to lift the Bucs past UNCG 80-77 on the road.
Freshman Tim Knipl sealed a victory for The Citadel over Davidson with a decision at 174 pounds.
Sophomore wrestler Konner Pritchard leads the young Davidson wrestling squad with eight overall wins.
Furman freshman forward Kaitlyn Duncan had productive outings in two recent games, combining for 17 points, 10 rebounds, five blocks and two assists. She scored a huge basket late in a nine-point, five-block outing against Wofford after registering eight points and seven rebounds versus ETSU.
Western Carolina sophomore forward Sherae Bonner has 35 blocks this season, taking over 10th in the Catamount single-season record books.
Chattanooga junior wrestler Scottie Boykin pushed his overall record on the season to 18-6 (12-1 dual) after downing No. 11 Zachary Nye 7-3 as the Mocs upset No. 19 Virginia in Charlottesville, Va.
VMI Freshman Neal Richards (157 lbs.) owns a 9-2 overall record since the beginning of January, including an 8-1 mark in dual action with his only loss coming to a nationally ranked opponent from UVa. Of Richards’ nine wins since Jan. 2, five have been by major decision.
Sydni Means leads Mercer and ranks second in the SoCon with 2.40 steals per game.
UNCG’s Mariah Wilson is second in the league in blocks per game (1.5).
What To Watch For
If you are planning to watch the Southern Conference championships, there are several ticket options to make sure you see it in person.
Here is ticket information from the Southern Conference office:
General admission single-session tickets start at $20, while all-session tickets are $110. The VIP all-session tickets are $200 and include a premium reserved seat and access to VIP hospitality for all games. Group single and session tickets are also available. All tickets can be purchased at the U.S. Cellular Center box office (828-259-5736) or online at Ticketmaster.com.
Fans wanting to purchase tickets through their institutional ticket blocks may contact their Southern Conference member schools for purchase dates and information.
For additional information on tickets, hotel accommodations, local attractions and events surrounding the tournament, fans can visit SoConTravel.com for more information.
We’re almost there; see you next time on the Journey to Asheville.