The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team’s last on-court memory of the just-completed calendar year was a bad one.
But to date, it hasn’t been a bad season for the Mocs.
With one nonconference game remaining for 2015-16 – at home against Harvard on Monday – UTC is 8-5. Three of those losses were to teams ranked in the top six nationally in RPI (No. 1 Connecticut, No. 3 Stanford, No. 6 Tennessee), with a fourth loss to the No. 28 team (South Florida).
The Mocs – who fell 59-57 at Tennessee but lost badly to UConn (79-31), South Florida (61-33) and Stanford (73-30) – are ranked No. 29 in the RPI. They’ve maintained their top-30 ranking despite losing junior guard Chelsey Shumpert to a season-ending knee injury and sophomore forward Aryanna Gilbert to an injury as well, although she could be back on the court soon.
That has led to a complete restructure of the lineup. Shumpert and Gilbert have been replaced by freshman Nakeia Burks and junior Moses Johnson. The team relies heavily on lone senior Alicia Payne, who typically plays 40 minutes a night, and shot-blocking menace Jasmine Joyner, who already holds the school record in total blocks and currently ranks second with 4.0 per game.