As college basketball has become more and more of a perimeter-oriented game, the value of the good old-fashioned two-point field goal has diminished.
With Saturday’s 69-65 win over East Tennessee State University, coach Katie Burrows and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women offered proof that type of shot still matters. The Mocs overcame a major disparity in 3-point success – UTC was 2-for-18; the Buccaneers were 9-for-14 – by going 19-of-28 from inside the arc and making 25 of 33 free throws at McKenzie Arena.
The win gave the Mocs a share of the Southern Conference regular-season championship with Samford and UNC Greensboro. It is the 22nd such title for UTC (11-17, 10-4) and the ninth it has shared.
Burrows’ team is the No. 2 seed for the SoCon tournament and will play No. 7 seed Mercer (7-22, 4-10) at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville, North Carolina. By earning the No. 2 seed, the Mocs are guaranteed at least a spot in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.
“If the 3s aren’t falling, you have to make the adjustment. I can’t remember one quite like this one, but (ETSU) shot the ball well from 3,” said Burrows, a former UTC player and assistant whose second season leading the program started 1-13 but could end up with the Mocs celebrating another league title if they win three straight games in Asheville.