March 6, 2004

Final Stats

North Charleston, S.C. - The Lady Mocs of Chattanooga made it four in a row on Saturday with an 86-68 victory over Western Carolina in the Southern Conference Tournament Championship at the North Charleston Coliseum.

The victory over the sixth seeded Catamounts was the second largest margin of victory in tournament history, and improved Chattanooga's season record to 28-2. The win also gave the Mocs their 26th straight victory, 12th consecutive Southern Conference Tournament win, and sixth bid since 1989 to the NCAA Tournament.

"There are two factors (in the 26-game win streak)," said Chattanooga coach Wes Moore following the victory. "One - these kids have shown up to play consistently, and two - balance. If one or two people have an off night, there is always someone there to step in. There are not many teams that have that luxury. There is a lot of unselfish play on this team."

Chattanooga opened the game with a three-pointer by Southern Conference Player of the Year Katasha Brown, and went on a 17-3 run to establish an early lead. Forward Tiffani Roberson went four-for-eight from the field and two-for-two from the line for 10 points at the half, while Katie Galloway added eight with two three pointers in the period. Western Carolina answered on the inside with forwards Tiffany Hamm and Jennifer Gardner each scoring 11 before the break, but the Lady Mocs led 43-25 at half time, and outdid WCU 24-12 on the boards, and 14-8 in second chance points.

While Chattanooga scored another 43 in the second period, Western Carolina almost doubled its first-half output with 43 points of its own. Though Hamm was shut down after the break, the Catamounts went with a more balanced offensive attack, sinking six second period three-pointers with scoring by seven of eight players, including a seven-point effort by Ki-Ki Glass.

When the final buzzer sounded four Mocs were in double figures - Tiffani Roberson with 20, Katasha Brown with 16, Miranda Warfield with 12, and Lyndi Sippel with a career-high 10. Western Carolina was led by Jennifer Gardner's 16 point, 12 rebound night, which gave her a league-leading (along with teammate Hamm) 10 double-doubles on the year. Hamm totaled 11 points, which gave her 1,444 on her career (fourth all-time at WCU) while Yoneko Allen and Ki-Ki Glass each contributed eight.

"I'm proud of this team," said WCU coach Beth Dunkenberger. "A lot of teams would have thrown in the towel the way things went for us earlier this season, but this team didn't. To me that is a true champion. We have three seniors who do a lot of little things and that is why we played for a championship today."

Brown was named Tournament Most Outstanding Player, becoming the first women's player to win both regular season Player of the Year and tournament MOP since DeShawne Blocker of East Tennessee State swept honors in 1995. She totaled 41 points and shot 50 percent from three point range in UTC's three games. Joining her on the all-tournament first team were Chattanooga' Tiffani Roberson and Miranda Warfield, and Western Carolina's Tiffany Hamm and Jennifer Gardner. The all-tournament second team consisted of Chattanooga's Katie Galloway, Furman's Jen Nadalin, Elon's Lisa Miller and Courtney Nyborg, and Western Carolina's Christy Blackwell.

"It's amazing what this team has accomplished and what these seniors have done these past four years for this program," said Chattanooga head coach Wes Moore. "For these seniors to go 12-0 in the Southern Conference Tournament is an impressive feat. I appreciate what these seniors have done for our program. We are not finished yet. We would like to extend our season, but it will be tough. We are excited about the chance to play at home."

Chattanooga, who will host first and second round NCAA Tournament games, will play on their home site Saturday, March 20, against an opponent to be named Selection Sunday, March 14.

Southern Conference All-Tournament First Team
Katasha Brown - Chattanooga - Most Outstanding Player
Tiffani Roberson - Chattanooga
Tiffany Hamm - Western Carolina
Jennifer Gardner - Western Carolina
Miranda Warfield - Chattanooga

Southern Conference All-Tournament Second Team
Katie Galloway - Chattanooga
Jen Nadalin - Furman
Lisa Miller - Elon
Courtney Nyborg - Elon
Christy Blackwell - Western Carolina

for complete box score, please visit: http://www.soconsports.com/article.asp?articleid=54553.

Western Carolina's catamountsports.com will provide more updates at a later time.