2008 Woodie Awards
Lady Mocs called out for Big Dance
Moore, seniors hopeful for first-round upset in Connecticut
By Jacob Vannucci
Issue date: 3/20/08 Section: Sports
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Behind the strong play of senior forward Alex Anderson of Stone Mountain, Ga. and senior point guard Laura Hall of Oliver Springs, Tenn., Chattanooga finished out its perfect conference record this season, remaining unbeaten in 2008 by SoCon teams in either the regular season or the tournament, earning another trip to the NCAA tournament.
UTC was given a 12th seed in the NCAA Tournament and will face fifth seed Kansas State, the 2008 regular season champion of the Big 12 conference in Bridgecourt, Conn., this Sunday at noon.
Despite being the underdog, the Lady Mocs are not ready to go down without a fight.
"There's no more coming back," said Anderson. "I'm more motivated since it's my senior year."
Senior guards Brooke Hand of Moulton, Ala., Amy Mohr of Cumming, Ga., and Hall as well as senior forward Kristen Spann of Lawrenceburg, Tenn., will also be taking their last trip to the NCAA tournament.
Coach Wes Moore is also ready to give the Wildcats of Kansas State a good game and is optimistic about their chances, despite losing in the first round in their past two trips.
"This team reminds me of the team that beat Rutgers," Moore said, referring to the 2004 Lady Mocs who upset the seventh-seeded Scarlet Knights in the first round.
The winner of the game between UTC and Kansas State will go on to play the winner of the Louisville-Miami of Ohio game. Chattanooga played Louisville earlier this year when UTC hosted the Panera Bread Challenge. The Lady Mocs lost 80-53.
Chattanooga also landed in the same bracket as first-seed North Carolina and second-seed LSU. Should the Lady Mocs win their first two games they will travel to New Orleans to continue to play.
Kansas State finished their season 21-9 overall. The team has not appeared in the NCAA tournament since 2005, but has seen some success in the Women's NIT and has reached the second round of the NCAA tournament in four straight appearances. The Lady Mocs have plenty to celebrate regardless of the outcome of the NCAA tournament. This year marks the seventh conference championship in eight years for Chattanooga and their 12th overall, the most in conference history.
The Lady Mocs went through UNC-Greensboro and the College of Charleston in the first two rounds of the tournament, dispatching the teams 78-33 and 68-53, respectively.
Once again, the SoCon championship game featured Chattanooga against second-seeded Western Carolina, who gave the Lady Mocs a good game but came up short, 71-59.
The Catamounts were able to throw the Lady Mocs off their game with an aggressive press and a strong defensive presence in the paint.
Chattanooga was able to respond, however, as point guard Hall used her quickness to make Western Carolina pay for doubling down in the paint, scoring 22 points on 7-12 shooting.
"It felt like there were eight different presses," Hall said after the game about the aggressive defense of the Catamounts.
Anderson was named the tournament MVP after scoring 25 points and picking up 11 rebounds in the championship game.
Anderson and Hall were both named the first team of the all-tournament team, while forward sophomore Shanara Hollinquest of Sylacauga, Ala., was named to the second team.
