UTC women preparing for ETSU's gunning guards

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team knows that East Tennessee State guards Shamauria Bridges and Tianna Tarter are going to get their shots today.

The Mocs' goal is to limit their points.

The ETSU guard duo will have UTC's attention when the teams face off at 2 p.m. at McKenzie Arena in a planned "White Out." The first 3,000 fans entering the arena will receive a "White Out" T-shirt.

Tarter is the leading scorer in the Southern Conference, averaging 19.5 points per game, while Bridges ranks eighth at 14.2.

The two combine to take 28.6 shots per game - which is nearly half of ETSU's total - and collectively average over half of the team's points, but they make only 40 percent of their attempts. The Mocs' main job defensively will be to limit the quality of shots the two take.

"We certainly have to know where they are," UTC coach Jim Foster said. "We certainly have to be cognizant of them and we have to do a lot of things because of their skills, but it's more the team's reaction to them than certain individuals. We really have to identify where they are on the floor, regardless of what defense we're in."

Bridges has had seven games in which she's made four or more 3-point baskets, and Foster said she has "significant" range. He also called Tarter "a jet."

"She wants to get to the rim and she does a pretty good job of it, so you've got to make that a little more difficult," Foster said.

The Mocs got off to a solid start in conference play with double-digit road wins over Samford and Mercer. A win today would make them 47-2 in league play since Foster took over before the 2013-14 season.

"ETSU is a good team. We'll prep for them like we would prepare for any other team," senior guard Queen Alford said. "We watched them play Mercer and they stuck with them for the majority of the time, so we can't take any team likely.

"We'll prepare for them like any other team, but this is going to be fun, so we're looking forward to going out and playing."

Contact Gene Henley at ghen ley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.

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