Raven Thompson and her University of Tennessee at Chattanooga teammates needed the Cherokee Invitational prior to Christmas break.
For the Mocs as a whole, the trip to North Carolina probably helped a bit as a humbling experience. UTC entered the event 11-1 and ranked as one of the top 10 mid-major basketball programs in the country and likely could benefit from seeing some mistakes on video after a loss. A pair of four-point setbacks — to Coastal Carolina on Dec. 20 and to Richmond the following day — provided two such opportunities.
For Thompson, a standout sophomore forward who had missed some time earlier in the month due to injury, it was a chance to get into a flow again offensively with 27 points against Richmond. That momentum carried over into the first half of Wednesday’s nonconference finale against North Carolina Central as Thompson totaled 13 points and 11 rebounds in the first 20 minutes at McKenzie Arena.
Then something happened: She got a bit tired.
Veteran guard Jada Guinn and the rest of the team were able to pick her up, though, and the Mocs were able to hold off the Eagles 65-59 to improve to 12-3 heading into Southern Conference play. The Mocs host Mercer (6-10) at 7 p.m. next Wednesday to continue a four-game homestand that will wrap up with visits from Samford (Jan. 13) and East Tennessee State (Jan. 20).
Guinn scored 19 of her 21 points in the second half and added seven rebounds, while Hannah Kohn chipped in a trio of 3s for nine points and Addie Porter added eight. After the big first half, Thompson added two more each in points and rebounds to finish with 13 and 11, respectively, while totaling 31 minutes on the court.
“We’ve got to get to where she’s playing 30 minutes at Raven’s pace and doing Raven things,” UTC coach Shawn Poppie said of Thompson, the SoCon’s freshman of the year last season. “They had a little guard on her, and we’ve got to identify some of those things, but some of it is she’s got to have a dog mentality that I’m the potential player of the year in this league, so throw me the ball and I’ve got us.
“But she’s a sophomore — I think sometimes we all forget that. She’s still learning.”
The Mocs built a 17-point lead during the second quarter and were ahead 36-25 at halftime. While the Eagles (5-9) never got closer than five in the second half, they did enough to just linger and not let UTC’s advantage get beyond 11 points.
“We just had to stay poised, stay together,” Thompson said of the second half. “We know we’ve got to come together tighter when things aren’t going well.”
Some of the second half could be attributed to the long layoff. The team had close to a week at home with families, then spent the past week doing a lot of conditioning, but for the Mocs, it was good to have a game to get some of the rust off heading into league play.
The Mocs were SoCon tournament champions in Poppie’s first season a year ago, returning the program to the NCAA tourney for the first time since 2017, and this winter they’re taking aim at also securing the regular-season crown.
“We’re just trying to be a better version of ourselves every day,” Thompson said. “Coach Poppie talks about ‘us versus us,’ just competing. We’re not going against the team; we’re just trying to be ourselves.
“That’s the only person that we can be.”
Former Brainerd High School standout Kimia Carter had nine points for the Eagles, who were led by Morgan Callahan’s 15 with three other N.C. Central scorers in double figures: Kimeira Burks (12), Tippy Robertson (12) and Kyla Bryant (11). Callahan and Robertson each had seven rebounds for the Eagles, who were outrebounded 35-27.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.