Wes Moore doesn’t appear to be in any danger of losing his hair this season. But the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball coach figures his hair might be white before it’s over.
“I’ll look like Bobby Cremins at some point,” he said, referring to the College of Charleston men’s coach. “I don’t think there’s any doubt.”
The bad news for the Lady Mocs is that nearly every game they’ve played since mid-December has been competitive to the closing minutes. The good news is that UTC has won nearly all of them, including seven in a row.
The Lady Mocs’ past three games have been decided by an average of 3.7 points.
“Hopefully we’re breeding some confidence by pulling these games out,” Moore said.
Monday’s 64-62 win at Davidson moved UTC into first place in the Southern Conference with a half-game lead over Davidson and the College of Charleston. The Lady Mocs (12-6, 7-2) will try to remain atop the standings Saturday when they host longtime rival Western Carolina (3-13, 2-5) at McKenzie Arena.
Perhaps the biggest win in the Lady Mocs’ streak wasn’t in a conference game. Instead, it was against Richmond in the St. Peter’s College Holiday Classic in New Jersey. Down 45-31 with 9:47 remaining, UTC rallied to force overtime and eventually won in double overtime.
The Lady Mocs overcame an eight-point deficit with 5:29 to play last Saturday at Appalachian State.
“It means a lot because in conference play toward the end, with the big tournament, it’s going to help us pull out games because everybody’s going to bring their top, top ‘A’ game,” senior forward Shanara Hollinquest said.
At Appalachian State, UTC actually led 32-23 at halftime, one of several games recently in which the Lady Mocs have let a lead disappear.
“I think we pull away in the first half and then want to make it close in the second half for some reason,” said Hollinquest, who leads the SoCon in scoring and rebounding.
During most of her UTC career, during which the Lady Mocs have stretched their SoCon regular-season title streak to 10 in a row, more than a few conference games have been well in hand midway through the second half.
Not this season, however, which is why Hollinquest is averaging 33.2 minutes per game.
“We can’t take anybody lightly,” Moore said. “Right now there’s such a fine line. In the past maybe we had enough talent that if had a breakdown or two we could still win. We don’t have that luxury.”