UTC Mocs logoDefensive difference2011-12 // 2012-13Scoring offense // 62.1 // // 68.6Scoring defense // 57.2 // // 53.6Steals // // // 200 // // 283Turnover margin // -0.8 // // +4.3
It’s not that the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team was bad defensively last season. The Lady Mocs allowed 57.2 points per game, which ranked fourth in the Southern Conference.
But compared to how UTC (26-3) has played this season — holding teams to a conference-low 53.6 points per game and with steals numbers way up — the 2011-12 numbers don’t look so good.
“We’re more up in your face, I guess, denying things,” junior forward Taylor Hall said Tuesday. “We worked really hard this summer, getting in shape so that we can play like that. It’s been a process, but I like it a lot better than last year’s defense. It’s more intense.”
UTC coach Wes Moore recognized after last season, including the 25-point blowout loss to Appalachian State in the semifinals of the SoCon tournament, that the Lady Mocs needed to make more happen on defense. UTC had gotten too “passive,” he said.