Women's Basketball

No. 1 Chattanooga and No. 2 UNCG advance to SoCon semifinals

Chattanooga breezes to 64-43 win over the Catamounts; UNC Greensboro romps to 64-44 win over Furman

No. 1 Chattanooga 64, No. 8 Western Carolina 43

ASHEVILLE, N.C.--No. 1 seed Chattanooga, fueled by guard Jada Guinn’s game-high 16 points and eight rebounds,  cruised to a 64-43 first-round victory over No. 8 seed Western Carolina at the 2024 Ingles Southern Conference Women’s Basketball Championship Tournament Thursday at Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville, N.C.
 
The Mocs, the conference regular season champions and currently ranked 13th by CollegeInsiders’ NCAA Division 1 Mid Majors with a 26-4 record, advance to play the winner of No. 4 Mercer and No. 5 East Tennessee State in Friday’s semifinal round at 11 a.m. EST.
 
Buoyed by freshman reserve guard Hannah Kohn’s three three-point shots, Chattanooga raced to a 20-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.  The Mocs’ defense, which led the Southern Conference (54.3 ppg) this season, produced five steals in that initial period.
 
Western Carolina (6-24) applied its own stifling defense in the second quarter in holding Chattanooga to an uncharacteristic 29.4 field goal percentage (5-of-17) for the period and shaving the Mocs’ lead to 34-28 at intermission.  Chattanooga opened the second half by going on a 26-10 blitz, seizing a 60-38 lead with 2:31 left in the game.
 
Guinn, an All-SoCon First Team selection and the league’s No. 2 scorer (18.9 ppg) during the regular season, scored nine of her 16 points in the second half. The 5-8 graduate student made seven of 12 field goal attempts and doled out four assists.  Sigraun Olafsdottir, a junior guard from Hafnarfjorour, Iceland, added 15 points while Kohn also scored 15 points, 12 coming in the first half.
 
Zanoria Cruz and Tyja Beans led Western Carolina’s scorers with 10 points each.
 
RECORDS:  No. 1 Chattanooga 26-4, Western Carolina 6-24
STATS TO KNOW
  • Chattanooga has now led at halftime in 27 of its 30 games this season.
  • While All-SoCon First Team forward Raven Thompson was held almost six points under her season average of 14.6, she rose above her 2-for-11 shooting to register eight rebounds and four steals against Western Carolina.
  • The Mocs are seeking their 20th conference tournament title.
  • Chattanooga went 11-0 on the road this year, while posting a 12-2 record at home and  a 3-2 mark on neutral courts.
  • Moc’s starting guard Addie Porter left the game midway through the third quarter with an apparent leg injury but returned to play in the final period.
  • Western Carolina has now lost eight straight games and 14 of the last 15.

No. 2 UNCG 64, No. 7 Furman 44

The triumvirate of Antoniette Emma-Nnopu, Ayanna Khalfani and Jayde Gamble combined for 46 points and 22 rebounds to propel No. 2 seed UNC Greensboro to 64-44 first-round victory over No.7 seed Furman at the 2024 Ingles Southern Conference Women’s Basketball Championship Tournament Thursday at Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville, N.C.
 
UNCG advances to a SoCon Tournament semifinal game on Friday against the winner of No. 3 Wofford and No.  6 Samford at 1:15 p.m. EST
 
Khalfani, a graduate transfer from the University of San Diego, scored 10 of her team-high 16 points in the second half and also had seven rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals.  Emma-Nnopu, a 5-11 sophomore from Geelong, Australia, scored 15 points and paced the Spartans with 10 rebounds. 
 
Gamble also tallied 15 points and grabbed five rebounds, while increasing her conference-leading steal total to 65 with a game-high five thefts against Furman.
 
The favored Spartans jumped out to an early 7-0 lead but the Paladins rallied behind Sydney Ryan’s five points in the final 51 seconds to slice the lead to 18-17 at the end of the first quarter.
 
Led by Kalfani, the SoCon Defensive Player of the Year, UNC Greensboro muzzled Furman to a .281 shooting percentage (16-for-57) from the field for the game.  
 
UNCG, which ranked second in the conference in scoring margin (+7.7) during the regular season, wore down Furman in the second half, outscoring the Paladins,33-20, after intermission.  The Spartans scored 20 points off turnovers for the game.
 
Both clubs failed to capitalize on the foul line, with Furman hitting only 44.4 percent of its free throws (8-of-18) and UNCG only making 50 percent (7-of-14).
 
Guard Tate Walters led Furman in scoring with 18 points.  The redshirt junior has tallied 28 points over her last five quarters dating back to the Paladins’ regular season finale against East Tennessee State.  Jada Session, the No. 3 rebounder in the conference this season, grabbed a game-high 10 caroms and added seven points.
 
RECORDS:  No. 2 UNC Greensboro 20-10, No. 7 Furman 15-16
STATS TO KNOW
  • The Spartans outscored the Paladins in the paint, 21-11.
  • UNCG carved out its best home record (15-1) in 22 years but are now only 5-9 away from Fleming Gym on the Greensboro campus.
  • The Spartans have now won all three meetings with Furman this season.
  • UNCG has won only one previous conference tournament championship in 1998.