With her first Southern Conference victory in her first try as the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball coach secure Saturday afternoon, Katie Burrows was asked how she intended to celebrate the 76-67 victory over East Tennessee State University.
"We'll eat well tonight," she said, breaking into a big grin. "We'll probably go out. Or I might go home and just enjoy this one with family."
And what might Saturday night have been like had the Mocs lost instead of won?
Said Katie's husband Nick as the couple's 4-year-old daughter Jordan held his hand: "I definitely like Saturday night after a win more than after a loss."
A star during her time as a UTC player in the early 2000s, Burrows no doubt expected to like a whole lot more Saturday nights than she has to date this season, the Mocs now standing 6-10 overall after wading through a nightmarish schedule ranked the nation's fifth-toughest, according to RealTimeRPI.com.
And it's not just that brutal Atlantic Coast Conference trio of current No. 2 Louisville, current No. 8 North Carolina State and Virginia Tech - which began the year 13-0 - the Mocs have had to face. Central Florida and Central Michigan - which both received votes in the most recent Associated Press poll - were also on the schedule, along with Belmont, Middle Tennessee State and South Dakota State.
"Oh, so much," Burrows answered when asked if that schedule, even one with so many all-but-guaranteed losses, might benefit the Mocs throughout their SoCon slate.
"There's nothing anybody can throw at us now that we haven't already seen," she said. "And we've seen it at the most intense level. I never say never, but whatever we see the rest of the season shouldn't be a shock."
But has moving that 12 inches or so from sitting next to former UTC coach Jim Foster, a Women's Basketball Hall of Famer, to becoming the head coach been a shock in any way?
"Not really," she said. "I'd been a head coach before, though at the high school level. I kind of knew what to expect."
Junior guard Lakelyn Bouldin, who led the Mocs in scoring against the Buccaneers with 19 points, said of her new coach: "Katie still brings a lot of energy, just as she did as an assistant. But she's also taken on a whole lot more responsibility. She's kept some things the same as under Coach Foster, but she's also changed some things. She gives us more freedom (on offense). I think we get more hyped in practice."
Yet getting less hyped may have been at least one very big reason why Eboni Williams, the 6-foot freshman forward from Alabama's Hoover High School, posted a double-double - 17 points and 11 rebounds - against ETSU.
"Double-doubles are never a bad thing, especially in less than 20 minutes," Burrows said of her rookie's 18 minutes and 52 seconds of playing time. "She was a different kid today in the sense that she played so much slower. I think she has made the decision to slow down and stay under control. She had great tempo from the 3-point line, and her effort on the boards was incredible."
According to Williams, the primary reason for such a performance was as follows: "I ate a good breakfast today."
Later asked what that was, she said: "Biscuits, eggs and sausage. I actually ate in my room. I usually go out for something fast, a drive-thru or something."
Thirteen conference games remain to be played before the SoCon tourney gets under way in early March in Asheville, North Carolina. Next on the schedule is a Thursday night visit from Wofford, then another Saturday home game against Furman. After that, five of the next seven are on the road.
And from a family perspective, Burrows probably will have to get along without the support of her 2-year-old daughter Grace for a good number of those games.
Though she joined Jordan for the first part of Saturday's contest, Nick said she couldn't stay until the finish.
"It was her nap time," he said.
However, Moc Maniacs shouldn't nap on this team's future, regardless of its rough start.
"I really think everything is starting to click," Bouldin said.
Added a smiling Burrows, just before ending her postgame news conference: "We're actually on a win streak. We've won two in a row."
Amazing what a good breakfast can do for you.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.