ASHEVILLE, N.C. — What’s understood doesn’t have to be explained.
There is a standard that has been set over the decades by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball program. One of a history of dominance within the Southern Conference, and one of championships, with the Mocs undefeated in the league title game.
That standard was maintained Sunday afternoon, when another dominant performance by Jada Guinn led the Mocs to a 69-60 win over UNC Greensboro at the Harrah's Cherokee Center as UTC improved to 20-0 in SoCon title games. In addition to repeating as tournament champions, the Mocs (28-4) completed a sweep of this year’s league titles, having won the regular-season crown in dominant fashion with a 13-1 record spoiled only by a 68-64 loss to UNCG (21-11) on Feb. 24 at McKenzie Arena.
The regular-season title ensured the Mocs of a postseason national tournament appearance via the Women’s NIT, but now the SoCon tourney championship brings with it the league’s automatic bid for the NCAA tournament, which tips off next week. It will be the 17th trip overall for UTC, which will learn its seed and opponent next Sunday when the entire 68-team bracket is revealed.
Assistant coach Jasmine Joyner, who won four consecutive SoCon titles as a player from 2013-17 and has now won both seasons as an assistant on second-year head coach Shawn Poppie's staff, said that it’s not really discussed but the expectation is the Mocs will compete year in and year out.
“We’re picking culture over talent,” Joyner said. “Last year, we didn’t have that much skill, but we had culture, we had love for the game. This year, we had more talent, but we had to make sure we put the culture over it.
"I felt like that was something we had when I was playing, and the fact that Coach Poppie brought that back to this program and the players bought in, I feel that’s why we’re standing here with two rings back to back.”
Poppie came to Chattanooga from the Atlantic Coast Conference, a former assistant for Virginia Tech who has delivered quickly and consistently. He rejuvenated a program that hadn't reached the NCAA tourney since 2017 until last year, when the Mocs went into the SoCon tourney as a No. 2 seed but left Asheville with a ticket to March Madness.
(READ MORE: UTC’s trust in Shawn Poppie quickly rewarded with NCAA tourney trip)
He has added his own touch to a culture that doesn’t accept excuses.
The ankle injury that junior point guard Addie Porter sustained in Thursday's quarterfinals was so bad, UTC's training staff had to go get her a bigger pair of shoes to fit her swollen foot. In the final two games of the tournament, she played a combined 58 minutes.
Guinn is even newer to the program than Poppie, but the graduate transfer from Tennessee Tech fit right in as she became a go-to scorer for the Mocs from the start. She took that to an even higher level in Asheville, where she was honored as MVP of the SoCon tourney.
(READ MORE: Mocs knew transfer Jada Guinn could deliver as go-to scorer)
In Sunday's final, Guinn scored 32 points — one short of matching the career high she set two days earlier — and was one of three Mocs with a team-high six rebounds. The others were sophomore forward Raven Thompson, who with 14 points despite struggling from the field (3-for-13) was the only other UTC scorer in double figures, and freshman Hannah Kohn, who just missed that mark with nine points via 3-for-3 success from 3-point range, making some huge shots after shaking off some nerves early in the game.
UNCG, which was up 12-10 after the first quarter, was led by Ayanna Khalfani (15 points, eight rebounds, six assists) and Isys Grady (12 points). UTC led 32-29 at halftime and 49-43 going into the fourth quarter.
With Sunday’s result, UTC wound up 2-1 against the Spartans this year, having also won 73-55 on Jan. 25 in Greensboro during a 12-game winning streak that would be halted by the home loss to UNCG. The Mocs started a new streak two days later by wrapping up the regular season with a win to remain undefeated in true road games this season, and they got the job done again in Asheville, beating eighth-seeded Western Carolina 64-43 in Thursday’s quarterfinals and fourth-seeded Mercer 66-55 in Friday’s semifinals.
Another UTC freshman, Caia Elisaldez, added six points for the Mocs on Sunday, and Guinn and Thompson made their trips to the foul line matter. Thompson hit all seven of her free throws, and Guinn was perfect on her six. Kohn and Thompson joined Guinn in all-tournament recognition as second-team selections.
“I just feel blessed to be a part of a program that has had so much success,” Guinn said. “Being able to come in with a new coach and him sell me on his program and what he’s trying to build is a blessing. Once I got on campus and I saw everything, it was impressive.
“It’s really special to be a part of all the history and all the success.”
That history and success attracted Poppie to Chattanooga. He wanted to join a program that had things in place so a first-time head coach could win. UTC has provided that for him — and then some.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Poppie said. “Do we use (the program's past success) in recruiting? Absolutely, but the reality is each team is different, right? I thought that last year’s group had so much weight to try to live up to the expectations of what was in those banners before I got here. I wasn’t a part of anything that was up there. We were going to try to bring it back, and we’re proud of where the program has been, and it’s our job to push it forward, and that’s been a lot of our focus even coming into this year.
“It was a new team, a new group. We’re going to keep putting numbers up there (in the championship tally), but each team is its own individual team. While it’s fun and exciting to talk about, it’s really more so what the last two years' group has done, and that’s what we’ve done since we got here.”
And that’s continue the standard.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.