It's safe to say the swarm of elementary-school kids that showed up at McKenzie Arena Monday for Education Day, as well as the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team's season opener against NCAA Division II King University, had a blast. That was specially true during timeouts or in between quarters when kids were spotlighted on the jumbrotron.
It appeared the team had a little fun as well.
The Mocs made 12 of their first 13 shots in building a 30-3 lead against the Tornado and cruising to an 88-32 win. Head coach Shawn Poppie said pregame that there were some nerves in the locker room, but if that was the case, it didn't really show in the first 10 minutes.
"I asked them who was nervous, and they all raised their hand," Poppie said, admitting he was as well. "My nerves were, I just don't know who this team is yet, and we've got seven returning players but seven new. I think what they were able to do is turn their nerves into playing extremely hard and because of that, we got stops, and then we got to play out in transition."
To his point, the Mocs forced five shot-clock violations and 15 total turnovers in the first 30 minutes in building a 54-13 lead at the break.
Offensively, it was a three-headed monster of sophomore Raven Thompson, senior Tennessee Tech transfer Jada Guinn and freshman guard Hannah Kohn that combined for 49 points. Kohn — who set a national high school record with 19 3-pointers made in a game — came off the bench to knock down her first five 3s and finished with 17 points. Guinn and Thompson had 16 each, with Guinn's final steal and layup pushing her over 1,000 career points.
"Our mentality early was just to do us. We knew what our game plan was," Guinn said. "We knew how we want to play, we just went out there and executed. We talked before the game about feeling our offense off our defense, and I think that's what we did."
With all the new, it's going to take the returning pieces to lead the way for the defending Southern Conference champions in Poppie's second season. That means a player like Thompson, the reigning Southern Conference tournament Most Valuable Player but also a sophomore and usually quiet, will find herself in a leadership role that she isn't necessarily comfortable in but also willing to adapt to.
"I'm just getting used to it everyday," Thompson said. "I know the new people believe in me and they trust me and listen and take in what I'm saying, because it can help them get better."
All 11 players that dressed for the Mocs played and scored. Junior-college transfer Kailyn Ferrell had a team-high nine rebounds and three assists, with Guinn, Addie Porter and freshman guard Caia Elisaldez matching Ferrell's assists total.
The Mocs are at Austin Peay on Friday before returning home to face Marshall Sunday at 2.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.