Chattanooga head coach Jim Foster watches his team practice for the NCAA women’s college basketball tournament in this 2014 file photo.The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team opens its 2014-15 season Friday night at 7:30 against Villanova in the first of three straight days of basketball at McKenzie Arena in the Tip-Off Challenge.
Villanova and South Florida will face off Saturday at 4 p.m., and the Mocs will be back in action Sunday at 2 p.m. against USF.
The Mocs are the defending Southern Conference champions, with a perfect 18-0 run through the conference last season and a 29-4 overall mark in coach Jim Foster’s first season. However, the team has undergone a lot of changes and there are be many new storylines heading into the new season. Here are five questions facing the Mocs heading into Friday’s season opener.
• 1. Can the roster be restocked quickly?
UTC lost five key players — including four starters — from last year’s team, including SoCon female athlete of the year Taylor Hall as well as post players Ashlyn Dewart and Faith Dupree and guards Meghan Downs and Alex Black. Without that core group, returning starters Chelsey Shumpert and Aryanna Gilbert will have to up their games, and at least some of the first-year Mocs will need to contribute early.