The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team will have scrimmages today and next Sunday in preparation for the 2015-16 season.
The Mocs will scrimmage Georgia this afternoon at 2 at McKenzie Arena, followed by a date with NCAA Division II program Lee University on Nov. 8. The scrimmages will be closed to the media and the public, and stats won't be available.
"It will give us a chance to play against different styles, different tempos and see where we are as opposed to where we need to be," UTC coach Jim Foster said this past week. "We're ahead this year because we're more experienced, deeper and we have returning players that have started. We'll find out the next two weeks, because it's a good time to check stuff out."
He said scrimmages are better for him than exhibition games because of the ability to set situations, play different defenses and "see a lot of things that can help you."
For the players, it's an opportunity to go up against somebody other than their teammates, which is always a welcome situation.
"We're really going to work on our defense. Aggressive defense has been our game for the past two years," guard Chelsey Shumpert said. "We have to have intensity, because I think we have the depth and experience to be pretty good.
"Our experience will give the freshmen a chance to learn from us."
Shumpert was among the freshmen not too long ago learning from a five-player senior class during the 2013-14 season, along with center Jasmine Joyner. Now the two are juniors and leaders on a team that was picked to win the Southern Conference, with Joyner voted the preseason player of the year and Shumpert being a preseason all-conference selection along with senior Alicia Payne.
The team added junior guard Queen Alford, who started two seasons at Jacksonville and was the 2012-13 Atlantic Sun freshman of the year. Alford sat out last season and is eligible to play this year.
"I'm really anxious to see what we're going to have," Joyner said. "I feel we have awesome creators, and I'm ready to see how strong our defense is, and I'm ready to see how we're going to play together on the court."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.