The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team benefited from dominant performances by Jada Guinn and Raven Thompson in Florida on Friday, when the Mocs got just enough in the way of contributions all around to defeat Kent State 64-54 in the first game of the Daytona Beach Classic.
UTC (5-1) will wrap up the event by facing Northern Kentucky (1-3) at 8 p.m. Saturday.
Guinn, a graduate transfer from Tennessee Tech, scored a career-high 26 points. Thompson — despite the sophomore battling knee trouble — chipped in 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Mocs, who looked much better after a relatively lackluster performance in their previous game, a 75-62 home win against UVA Wise last Saturday.
“I didn’t think we had the competitive spirit last week,” UTC coach Shawn Poppie said on the postgame radio broadcast. “What happens when you have a competitive spirit is, when things don’t go well, you don’t have a ‘woe is me’ attitude when Coach Poppie’s over there screaming at you. It’s not because I don’t like you; it’s something you’re not doing, now listen to the message. We’ll love on you when we get out of here.
“That spirit keeps you out of your roles, in my opinion, and we’re going to have to have it because we’re not big. We know that, right? We’re not big, but we’re skilled.”