The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga athletes set a school record in the fall 2018 semester for aggregate grade point average. The Mocs had a collective 3.137 GPA on a 4.0 scale, led by 39 with 4.0s for the semester and 166 on the dean's list. The football, softball, women's cross country/track and field and volleyball teams set program records with 33, 20, 18 and 17 dean's list honorees, and soccer had 19. The women's cross country team had a collective 3.80 GPA, and the volleyball players tied a program standard at 3.60. A dozen UTC teams had at least a 3.0, and men's basketball set a record with a 2.97. "We have a lot of things to celebrate and many accomplishments to be proud of at UTC, and at the top of that list is the performance of our student-athletes in the classroom," vice chancellor and athletic director Mark Wharton said in a school release.
Basketball
* Kentucky's Rhyne Howard from Bradley Central High School was selected the Southeastern Conference women's basketball freshman of the week for the fifth time this season after totaling 31 points, 11 assists, nine rebounds, seven steals and three blocked shots in games against Vanderbilt and Mississippi State. Only Sophie Cunningham of Missouri in 2015-16 has been the freshman honoree more times (six) in SEC history. Howard leads the Wildcats with 17.4 points and 7.0 rebounds per game and is second on the team with 45 assists, 38 steals and 16 blocks.
* Lee University point guard Haley Schubert was named Tuesday the Gulf South Conference women's freshman of the week for the fifth time. She scored 18 points in a win at Trevecca Nazarene and added 12 in league victories at Union University and Christian Brothers. Schubert is averaging 10.9 points and 2.8 steals a game in her first college season.
* The Bryan College women's basketball team rose two places to 15th in Tuesday's updated NAIA Division II coaches' poll, the Lady Lions' highest ranking in 12 seasons. They are 13-1 overall and 11-0 in the Appalachian Athletic Conference. Bryan's Karli Combs is No. 1 nationally in Division II with 4.231 3-point shots made per game and No. 3 in 3-point percentage at .505, and Deandra Luna is No. 4 with 5.538 assists per game.
* Tennessee Wesleyan senior guard Hunter Simpson from Madisonville was the AAC women's player of the week for her 51 points and 26 rebounds in two games, and she and her Lady Bulldogs improved to 8-5 overall and 6-5 in the league with a 77-61 win Monday at Allen University. Simpson scored 30 points in Saturday's loss to first-place Bryan and went into Monday's game averaging a league-high 19.3 points and 10 rebounds a game. She was the AAC player of the year and a second-team NAIA All-American last season. The TWU men (8-6, 4-5) lost 94-75 at Allen.