The most prominent noise bouncing around McKenzie Arena during the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team’s loss to Elon on Monday came from the Phoenix bench.
Elon’s players were cheering everything their teammates did on their way to a 74-61 win. The UTC bench, as well as the players on the floor, said and did little to rally the Lady Mocs.
Even after Kylie Lambert got a steal and Bailey Dewart scored to cut Elon’s lead to 62-57 with 1:47 to play – plenty of time for a rally – the Lady Mocs showed little life or pep.
“We talked about that. With the weather being what it is and the crowd being down, we had to create some energy on the bench,” UTC coach Wes Moore said after the loss, which dropped his team to 7-9 overall and 4-3 in Southern Conference play.
“We talked to the players … about trying instill that a little bit. It didn’t happen.”
After going 3-1 during a four-game home stand, UTC plays its next three on the road, starting tonight at Davidson (5-8, 1-4).
Junior point guard Tenisha Townsend is UTC’s most experienced player, but she’s also quiet by nature. She said she and some of the older players must do a better job as vocal leaders.
“That’s something that I need to do, along with the others out there,” Townsend said. “Aside from the players on the court, the people on the bench could be vocal as well. … We have to step outside our comfort zone and get that together quick.”
The year before Townsend arrived at UTC, the Lady Mocs had leaders galore, led by seniors Alex Anderson and Laura Hall. On the bench were some veterans who knew they had to be part of the action.
When the players did something good, the bench reacted. When anyone put up a 3-pointer, the bench stood and then cheered if it dropped.
Other than Erin Ogan during the 2008-09 season, that kind of support has been lacking the past few seasons, Moore said.
“Erin Ogan was somebody that I saw change her personality her senior year to take on that role,” Moore said. “She hadn’t really shown it up until that point, but her senior year she knew that’s what was needed and did an unbelievable job with that.
“Now this year we have no seniors on the team; we don’t have kids that have been through the wars for a few years and know what it’s about and can get everybody else on the right page. That does make it tough.”
It’s perhaps understandable that this season’s bench is a little shy, a little reticent. Of the nonstarters, six are freshmen.
“That may be so,” Townsend said, “but it also starts with the veterans. We need to do a better job of creating our own energy.”