Coach Jim Foster and his University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team have been starring in their own soap opera.
“As the Season Evolves.”
Another step in that evolution will take place when the Mocs take the McKenzie Arena floor at 2 p.m. today against Mercer with a share of first place in the Southern Conference on the line. UTC (19-7, 10-2) is a half-game behind the Bears (20-6, 10-1) in the standings with one game remaining in the regular season for the Mocs and two for Mercer after today.
Today’s UTC doubleheader (the men’s team hosts UNC Greensboro at 5 p.m.) is fan appreciation day. Kids will be admitted free with a paid adult general admission ticket, and a free hot dog will be given to each of the first 500 fans through the doors before the women’s game.
In addition, a 40-inch TV will be given away to a student fan at the women’s game and 500 free hot dogs will be given to students at the men’s game.
As for the women, there is intrigue in today’s matchup beyond the standings and special promotions. Mercer ended the Mocs’ 52-game winning streak in SoCon play with a 67-44 victory Jan. 21 in Macon, Ga. The Mocs went on to lose their next game at Samford, but they haven’t lost since.
“We weren’t a good basketball team the last time we played them, but we are this time,” Foster said. “It’s going to have to be them adjusting to us as much as we adjust to them, because they’re not playing the same team that they played in January.”
Throughout injuries and lopsided losses, Foster has remained level-headed about his team. Most teams peak early, he said; his has followed a steady flow, and he has graded them on a game-by-game basis.
“Sometimes you get good early and stay, but it’s sort of a battle to stay, a between-the-ears battle,” he said. “This team has had to figure a few things out, and they got to the point where it was time to do that, and they’ve got it done.”
Jasmine Joyner and Keiana Gilbert have clearly been team leaders throughout the season, but Queen Alford – a redshirt junior who’s in her first season of competition at UTC after two seasons at Jacksonville – leads the Mocs in scoring in SoCon games, averaging 14.6 points on 47 percent shooting.
She enters today’s game 10 points shy of 1,000 for her career, having scored 266 points this season after netting 724 points in her first two college seasons. She has experience playing against the Bears from her days with the Dolphins, when both were members of the Atlantic Sun Conference.
“Mercer is a very competitive team, and we love playing competitive teams. I think it is going to be a fun game,” she said.
“I wasn’t surprised by how they came out against us the first time. Mercer is always a good team, and we didn’t have the energy we needed to have to control what happened at the beginning.
“We think we can be dangerous. We have so many secret weapons, so many players to contribute to a game that it’s crazy.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.