Defensive-minded Mocs begin postseason push

UTC's Chelsey Shumpert (25) dodges through the Spartan defense at the McKenzie Area in this Feb. 14, 2015, file photo.
UTC's Chelsey Shumpert (25) dodges through the Spartan defense at the McKenzie Area in this Feb. 14, 2015, file photo.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- It's a concept so simple yet so often ignored: If your opponents can't score, they can't beat you.

In a sports world obsessed with high-powered offenses and highlight-reel scoring plays, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team has relied on lock-down defense, especially in the half court, to feed its offense.

The result? Big-time wins over Tennessee and Stanford, an unbeaten run through the Southern Conference regular season and a 22-game winning streak heading into today's conference tournament opener at noon against UNC Greensboro. Oh, and a No. 17 ranking in the latest Associated Press Top 25.

The Mocs (26-3) are ranked No. 3 in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 50.3 points per game. The last team to score more than 60 points against UTC was then No. 4 Tennessee in a 67-63 loss on Nov. 26.

Individually, you won't find many Mocs ranked in the top offensive categories, but sophomore post Jasmine Joyner is No. 5 in NCAA Division I with 4.07 blocked shots per game and a SoCon-record 118 blocks this season.

Meanwhile, Alicia "Red" Payne is No. 11 in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio with 2.66, and she's known throughout the league as a pesky defensive guard who will force opposing teams' best players to make mistakes. Her play earned her the title of SoCon defensive player of the year earlier this week, but it's not an honor she's focused on as postseason play begins.

"It's cool, I guess," she said Wednesday before practice at Kimmel Arena. "But the main thing I try to do is help my team in any way I can. It didn't matter if I got that award or not, I would just keep doing what I've been doing."

Mercer coach Susie Gardner led her Bears to a third-place finish in the SoCon this season, and they lost 56-51 to the Mocs last week in Macon, Ga.

"They're good on the ball, they've got long athletes and they're good help-side as well," Gardner said after the first meeting between the two teams on Jan. 31. "It looks like you have a drive, and they sneak over and you've got Joyner in the middle, who is a good athlete and shot blocker.

"So (they) can tighten up the pressure a little bit more knowing that somebody's got your back."

UTC will open the postseason against a Spartans team with only one league win but a pressuring defensive style of its own. UNCG leads the SoCon in steals with 11.4 per game and offensive rebounds with 16.9 per game. Its plus-3.03 turnover margin is second in the SoCon behind UTC's plus-3.69, and Mocs coach Jim Foster doesn't expect the Spartans to change how they play in the third meeting between the two teams.

"They're pretty much committed to how they play," he said. "They press and they want to play fast, so you have to get back and be solid early and move the ball against their press.

"Then you'll get some pretty good opportunities against their press if you do that."

Against an energetic defensive team, Payne knows the Mocs need to be ready to go from the opening tip.

"It's real important for us to come out hard, because UNCG has a lot of energy," she said. "They're a very energetic team and rebound a lot, so we have to come out the way we're supposed to and just set the tone to get the game going in our favor.

"The two games before (the regular-season finale) we had rough starts, so we've tried to be real intentional about coming out with energy and playing hard. If we just run our offense, it will run itself."

In many ways the slate is wiped clean for both UTC and UNCG, as both teams are trying to win three games this weekend to claim an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

"I think we're ready. We see this as a whole other season," UTC sophomore guard Chelsey Shumpert said. "We're happy that we won the SoCon regular season, but of course this is more important. So we have to come out with the same energy that we've had for the past several games."

With an RPI rating of No. 19 as of Wednesday, Foster feels his team has done enough to earn an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament regardless of what happens in Asheville, but seeding considerations and the risk of putting your fate in the selection committee's hands are keeping the Mocs focused on maintaining their momentum.

"We don't want to put it to chance," Shumpert said. "We're going to come out with the same energy for these three games and see what happens."

Contact Jim Tanner at jtanner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6478. Follow him at twitter.com/JFTanner.

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