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Brooke Hand
Brooke Hand got her wish Monday night when the NCAA women’s basketball tournament brackets were released.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior said recently that she wanted the Lady Mocs to play their first-round game in Connecticut, and that is where they’re headed. UTC, the No. 12 seed in the New Orleans Regional, will face fifth-seeded Kansas State in Bridgeport at noon Sunday.
“That’s right, my wish came true,” Hand said during the crowded and festive selection show viewing party at Big River Grille & Brewing Works.
“Anything that happened was going to be a challenge, that’s what I keep saying. (The tournament) was going to be hard no matter what, but we’re excited.”
The Lady Mocs received an automatic bid last week by winning the Southern Conference tournament and are making their third straight trip to the NCAAs. Their past two ended in close losses to Kentucky and Baylor.
Coach Wes Moore and his assistants will be busy working up a scouting report on Kansas State during the next two days. The Lady Mocs, who practiced Monday and are off today, will get to work preparing for the Wildcats on Wednesday.
“We’ll ratchet up pretty high here in the next 24 hours,” Moore said.
The tournament gets under way Saturday with the first wave of first-round games, so UTC will have an extra day to get ready for the Wildcats. That may or may not be a good thing, Moore said.
“It does give us a little more time to prepare, but on the other side I think we run a lot of stuff and (the extra day) gives our opponent more time to prepare, too,” Moore said.
The Lady Mocs (29-3) head into the tournament with Division I’s longest women’s winning streak, 24 games. They haven’t lost since Dec. 1 and are eager to keep their run going, first against the Wildcats (21-9) and then anyone else who’s in their way.
“I don’t want this to stop,” said senior Alex Anderson, the two-time SoCon player of the year. “It’s the end of the road for me, so I want it to continue for as long as possible.”
Kansas State, ranked No. 16 in the final Associated Press poll, won the Big 12 regular-season title but lost to Iowa State in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. Leading scorer Kimberly Dietz was lost for the season in that game due to a knee injury.
Should UTC beat the Wildcats, which would be just the second NCAA tournament win in the program’s history, the Lady Mocs would face a familiar opponent in the second round in either No. 4 seed Louisville or No. 13 seed Miami (Ohio).
Louisville beat UTC 80-53 at McKenzie Arena on Nov. 24 during the Panera Bread Challenge, and the Lady Mocs routed Miami 88-63 on Dec. 30 in San Antonio during the UTSA New Year’s Classic.
“We’re by no means looking ahead, but it was nice to see two teams that we’ve already played next to us in the bracket,” Anderson said.
The Lady Mocs faced five teams that made the field of 64, beating East Tennessee State, Murray State and Miami (Ohio) and losing to Tennessee and Louisville. Tennessee is the No. 1 seed in the Oklahoma City Regional.
Tickets can be pre-ordered through UTC by contacting Brian DeWine, director of ticket sales, at 425-5273. All 63 NCAA tournament games will be televised live on ESPN and ESPN2
John Frierson is in his fifth year at the Times Free Press and fifth year covering University of Tennessee at Chattanooga athletics. The bulk of his time is spent covering Mocs football, but he also writes about women’s basketball and the big-picture issues and news involving the athletic department. A native of Athens, Ga., John grew up a few hundred yards from the University of Georgia campus. Instead of becoming a Bulldog he attended Ole ...
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