In her first postseason game as a college basketball head coach, Stacey Franklin’s Chattanooga State Lady Tigers lost badly in a TCCAA/NJCAA Division II tournament play-in game last March.
But none of the players in her second season remember that. They’re all freshmen, and they don’t even have to worry about the 2018 tournament’s play-in games tonight in their own gym. These Lady Tigers are seeded third out of 10 teams and open play Sunday night at 8 against sixth seed Columbia State.
Franklin’s team has been at or above .500 all season, despite the ebbs with the flows. From 8-3 the Lady Tigers lost five of six games, but then they surged with 10 wins in their last 12 and go into the tournament 19-10.
“We’ve had the same starting five all season, and they have progressed steadily as a group,” Franklin said. “And (5-foot-11) Essence Johnson and Lucy Edosomah have really blossomed as the first inside player and first guard off the bench.”
Shanice Nelson leads the team with 14 points per game, while Mackenzie Trouten and Ashlyan Baker have averaged 9.6 and 8.8 and 5-10 Zikaya Wright has averaged nine rebounds with 5.4 points. The other starter is Rachel Sanders from Silverdale Baptist Academy, at 5.9 points per game.