ASHEVILLE, N.C. — When former Tennessee standout and ESPN women’s college analyst Kara Lawson found out that Jim Foster would be the new coach 0f the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s program two seasons ago, she had no doubt that he’d be successful — again. And Foster has proven her right with another unbeaten season in Southern Conference play and a first-round win over UNC Greensboro on Thursday.
“Jim’s done a tremendous job,” Lawson said in a phone interview Thursday. “Those of us who have been around the game knew Wes (Moore) had done a tremendous job. (UTC) has just been a great women’s basketball school for a long time.
“So when (Foster) took that job, I thought that they’d continue to bring success because he’s one of the best coaches in women’s college basketball history.”
But even Lawson was surprised at the heights that Foster’s Mocs have reached in a short period of time with two wins over top-10 teams this season and a No. 17 ranking in The Associated Press poll, but she said the rankings are deserved when you look at what the Mocs have done this season.
“When you look at those two very marquee wins, beating Tennessee and Stanford, that really woke the rest of the country up to them that maybe they’re a little bit different,” Lawson said. “Sometimes when you look at a one-bid league and there’s a team with a gaudy record, you say ‘OK, they’ve won a bunch of games, but who have they really beat?’
“So those two wins really resonate with everybody because of the successful seasons that those teams have had.”
She said the Mocs need to win the SoCon tournament and hope for some upsets above them to improve their seeding in the NCAA tournament and have a shot at making the second weekend of the Big Dance. But with the youth and the talent on the UTC roster, Lawson is impressed with what they’ve done and what they can potentially do in the upcoming weeks.
“They’ve got a little bit of everything,” Foster said. “They’ve got size in the post, which can sometimes be a hindrance for teams that sometimes don’t have size and athleticism.
“They have multiple players that can knock down 3-point shots … and (Alicia) Payne is a terrific defender. I’ve watched them play on tape and she is someone that really gets after it and adds a different element to what they can do on the defensive end.”
IAMARINO OPTIMISTIC
As the tournament kicked off with women’s play at Kimmel Arena on UNC Asheville’s campus Thursday, Southern Conference commissioner John Iamarino expressed pleasure with how the tournament is going in its fourth year back in Asheville after several years away.
“We have the potential to have a very good weekend,” he said. “Ticket sales are up ahead of where they were the last couple of years. We have four schools within 75 miles of Asheville and two schools — ETSU and VMI — who are returning to the conference and remember coming to Asheville.
“I think they’re going to see significant improvements to the U.S. Cellular Center, and the city of Ashevillle and the downtown area has improved dramatically in the last several years.”
Over the past several years, the SoCon has undergone dramatic changes, with the loss of five out of 12 member schools and the addition of ETSU, VMI and Mercer this year to bring the membership to 10. But despite the upheaval throughout the league, Iamarino feels good about where SoCon is and where it’s heading.
“I think the 10 that we have now really want to work together, want to be together and want to work with the Southern Conference,” he said. “I think now we’re in a progress mode whereas in the last couple of years we’ve been in a patching mode.
“As far as basketball, the ironic thing is that everybody points at Davidson leaving, and yet we’ve had a better RPI as a league this year without them. So I think the future is really bright for these 10 schools.”
FURMAN ADVANCES
Furman guard Whitney Bunn scored 24 points and went 7-of-9 on 3-pointers to lead the fifth-seeded Paladins to a 65-54 win over Samford in the second quarterfinal, setting up a showdown with UTC this morning at 11.
Furman used a 14-2 run at the end of the first half to build an 11-point lead and held off Samford down the stretch despite 17 turnovers and being outscored 16-12 in the paint.
Holli Wilkins, daughter of former UTC and NBA star Gerald Wilkins, added 14 points in the win, and Samford was led by Brittany Stevens with 17.
The win was a validation for the Paladins, who were picked to finish second in the conference but struggled in the regular season. Coach Jackie Carson said her team is excited to get a shot to knock off the nationally ranked Mocs in tournament play.
“Chattanooga is just an extraordinary team, but we feel confident finally getting to play them fully loaded,” she said. We had Sarah Durdaller out both games we played against them in January 12 days apart.
“Our girls are excited and anxious, but (UTC) is an outstanding opponent. We can’t have 17 turnovers and there’s so many things we have to do better that we didn’t do today. But we’re very excited.”
On the other side of the women’s bracket, East Tennessee State beat Western Carolina 73-53. The Bucs will play the winner of Thursday’s late quarterfinal between Mercer and Wofford.
Contact Jim Tanner at jtanner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6478. Follow him at twitter.com/JFTanner.