CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina women's basketball closes out the month of January on Saturday, welcoming defending Southern Conference tournament champion Chattanooga to Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center for a 2 p.m. start. The matchup will be followed by WCU men's basketball hosting VMI at 5 p.m.
Saturday is WCU Women's Basketball Alumni Day and "Pack the RAC" for both teams. The matchup with the Mocs will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats and live audio provided by the Catamount Sports Network available on CatamountSports.com.
Matchup: Chattanooga (16-3, 4-0 SoCon) vs Western Carolina (5-15, 0-4 SoCon)
Date: Saturday, January 27
Time: 2 p.m.
Site: Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center (Cullowhee, N.C.)
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Live Video: Watch ESPN
Radio: Catamount Sports Network
Twitter: @CatamountWBB
TICKETS
GAME NOTES
WCU continues its three-game homestand on Saturday afternoon when the Catamounts welcome Chattanooga in the front end of a Catamount Basketball doubleheader. The Catamounts suffered a 56-47 defeat on Thursday to ETSU as Tyja Beans and Chelsea Wooten led the offense with 10 points apiece.
Wooten maintains her lead in the SoCon with 48 made 3-pointers, averaging a SoCon-best 2.5 triples per contest. She also ranks 11th in the conference, averaging 11.3 points per game. Lonasia Brewer sits 10th in the SoCon with 41 offensive rebounds. Jada Burton ranks fourth in the SoCon with 71 assists as she's tied for third with 3.7 assists per game. Burton is ninth in the conference with 26 steals.
Wooten is third in 3-pointers made in league play with 11 made from beyond the arc. In conference play, WCU is tied for second in team rebounds with 167 boards, which includes ranking second in defensive rebounds with 114.
Chattanooga enters Saturday's contest with a 16-3 overall record after the Mocs improved to 4-0 in SoCon play behind a 73-55 victory over UNCG on Thursday night. The Mocs are ranked 17th in the latest College Insider Mid-Major Poll, the lone SoCon team recognized.
A two-time SoCon Player of the Week honoree, Jada Guinn leads the Mocs averaging 18.3 points per game which ranks second in the conference. The graduate student has eclipsed double figures in all 19 games thus far for UTC, including six 20+ point performances.
Raven Thompson averages 14.7 points per contest while leading the team with 7.0 rebounds per game, which puts her eighth in the league. Thompson has tallied a pair of double-doubles for the Mocs. Thompson and Guinn were tabbed on the preseason all-conference team as UTC was one of two squads to place multiple players on the preseason team.
The Mocs sit atop the SoCon in 3-point field goal percentage at 38.2%, led by Hannah Kohn, who's made 40-of-80 threes. Chattanooga has been off to a fast start from deep in SoCon play, shooting 25-of-53 (47.2%).
The Mocs finished the 2022-23 campaign with a 20-13 record while going 9-5 in the SoCon as Chattanooga claimed its 18th SoCon tournament title – and first since 2017 – defeating Furman, ETSU, and Wofford to win the crown. Chattanooga advanced to the NCAA tournament and dropped an opening-round matchup to Virginia Tech as the Hokies were able to advance to the Final Four before falling to eventual champion LSU.
Chattanooga was tabbed second in the preseason coaches poll as a pair of coaches picked the Mocs to win the league, while the league's media poll has UTC as the conference champion with five first-place votes under the direction of Shawn Poppie, who's in his second season.
Chattanooga holds an 83-13 record in the all-time series over WCU as the two schools split last year's meetings, winning their respective road matchups. The Mocs have claimed the previous 12 matchups that have taken place in Cullowhee. In last year's win in Chattanooga, Kyla Allison led the Catamounts with 20 points, added seven rebounds, and four assists. Mya Love added 11 points off the bench in the road triumph last year.
Following Saturday's action in Cullowhee, the Catamounts close out the first half of league play on Saturday, February 3, at 2 p.m. on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center against UNCG. WCU will celebrate National Women in Sports Day, and the matchup with the Spartans will be First Citizens Bank "Youth Basketball Day'. Prior to tip on Saturday their will be a National GIrls & Women's Sports Clinic from 1-1:45pm featuring student-athletes from all women's teams at WCU with stations to do drills at for kids 6th grade and under. To register for the clinic, email tpope@wcu.edu.
The matchup with UNCG will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live stats available on CatamountSports.com.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount women's basketball and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@catamounts, Catamountwbb).
