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2024 WBB SoCon Tournament vs UTC - FRONT

Women's Basketball Greg Hartlage, Director of Media Relations

Catamounts Open SoCon Tournament Thursday Against Mocs

CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina women's basketball begins its pursuit of the 2024 Ingles Southern Conference Basketball Championship on Thursday with an 11 a.m. tip-off against top seed Chattanooga from the Harrah's Cherokee Center – Asheville. Thursday's action will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live audio from the Catamount Sports Network and  live stats available on CatamountSports.com.

Matchup: #8 Western Carolina (6-23, 1-13 SoCon) vs #1 Chattanooga (25-4, 13-1 SoCon)
Date: Thursday, March 7
Time: 11 a.m.
Site: Harrah's Cherokee Center (Asheville, N.C.) 
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast 
Live Video: Watch ESPN
Radio: Catamount Sports Network
Twitter: @CatamountWBB
SoCon Tournament Central
GAME NOTES

Western Carolina closed the regular season at UNCG, battling until the end before a 9-2 run in the early stages of the fourth quarter proved to be the difference as the Spartans claimed a 61-54 victory on March 2 at Fleming Gymnasium.

Junior guard Jada Burton finished the regular season ranked second in the SoCon with 109 total assists, ranking in a two-way tie for second in assist/turnover ratio at 1.2. She finished the SoCon season in third place in assists during league play with 47 helpers over 13 conference games. Burton's 34 steals also ranked her 10th in the league. Led by Burton's 109 helpers, the Catamounts finished the regular season third in the league with 372 assists while tallying 154 in SoCon play, third in league games.

Chelsea Wooten maintains her tie for third place in the SoCon with 56 3-pointers, second in the league with 2.1 made threes per game. The McKinney, Texas, product leads the team and is 11th in the SoCon with an average of 30.9 minutes per game. A postseason All-SoCon selection, Lonasia Brewer enters the tournament in ninth in offensive rebounds, totaling 64 including 34 in conference play which puts the Akron, Ohio native in a tie for sixth place in the SoCon.

Thursday begins the 41st SoCon tournament for the Catamounts as WCU holds a 23-38 all-time record in the championship history. The Catamounts have twice claimed the SoCon title, winning the first in 2005 and again in 2009. WCU and UTC have met eight times prior in the SoCon tourney with Thursday morning's matchup serving as the first head-to-head battle since 2008 in the finals when the Mocs claimed the title as Chattanooga has won each of the previous postseason meetings.

On Tuesday, WCU graduate student Lonasia Brewer was named to the second-team All-SoCon as voted on by the coaches and third-team honoree as selected by the SoCon Sports Media Association (SCSMA) as the league announced its postseason honors. Freshman Tyja Beans was also selected to the league's all-freshman team as voted on by the coaches and SCSMA.

Coming off the regular-season crown, Chattanooga finished with a 25-4 record and went 13-1 in the SoCon. The Mocs tallied both a 12-game and a nine-game win streak throughout the 2023-24 season. Ranked 13th in the women's mid-major poll, UTC added a top-25 win over #21 Mississippi State in December.

The Mocs are led by a pair of first-team all-conference honorees Jada Guinn and Raven Thompson, who both received the honor following the conclusion of the 2023-24 season. Hannah Kohn was named to the league's all-freshman team as selected by both the coaches and media, and Sigrun Olafsdottir was named to the all-defensive team voted on by coaches. Head coach Shawn Poppie was voted as Coach of the Year.

Guinn finished the regular season in second place in scoring, averaging 18.9 points per game with Thompson finishing third at 14.6 points per game. Guinn also placed in a tie for fifth in the league, averaging 7.0 rebounds per contest, with Thompson finishing in a tie for seventh at 6.7 boards per game. Guinn finished atop the league in field goals at 51.8%. Kohn finished in a tie for third in the league in threes with 56 triples, matching Chelsea Wooten.

Chattanooga holds an 85-13 record in the all-time series over WCU as the Mocs have earned three straight wins in the head-to-head series. WCU and UTC last met in a matchup not in Cullowhee or Chattanooga on March 2, 2017, with Chattanooga earning the 85-41 victory.

Western Carolina played Chattanooga to a pair of tight defeats during the regular season including a 60-56 setback in Tennessee. The Catamounts were led by Brewer, who tallied a double-double in the road matchup with 19 points and 12 rebounds, going 8-of-15 from the field. She averaged a team-high 13.5 points per game, along with 9.5 rebounds per contest. Jada Burton went 7-of-8 from the field in Cullowhee against the Mocs tallying 15 points in which she eclipsed 1,000 career points as the junior averaged 11.5 points per game. Chelsea Wooten averaged 11.0 points per game in the two matchups, which included connecting on five threes.

The eight-team 2024 Ingles Southern Conference Basketball Championship begins in earnest on Thursday with four quarterfinal matchups before two semifinals on Friday, March 8, and the champion crowned on Sunday, March 10. All games will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with the final being broadcast on ESPNU.

 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).
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Players Mentioned

Lonasia Brewer

#1 Lonasia Brewer

F/P
6' 0"
Graduate Student
Tyja Beans

#5 Tyja Beans

G/F
5' 11"
Freshman
Jada Burton

#10 Jada Burton

G
5' 8"
Junior
Chelsea Wooten

#11 Chelsea Wooten

G
5' 9"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Lonasia Brewer

#1 Lonasia Brewer

6' 0"
Graduate Student
F/P
Tyja Beans

#5 Tyja Beans

5' 11"
Freshman
G/F
Jada Burton

#10 Jada Burton

5' 8"
Junior
G
Chelsea Wooten

#11 Chelsea Wooten

5' 9"
Junior
G