NCAA Women's Tournament Bracket: Chattanooga Lady Mocs preview

Who? The Lady Mocs of Chattanooga.

What? The mockingbird is the state bird of Tennessee.  Scrappy is named for a football coach.

Where? Chattanooga, Tennessee, the Scenic City.

When? March 8th, in Asheville, North Carolina.

Why? They won the Southern conference tournament.

How? East Tennessee State made a huge second half run, capped by a Serena Clark putback at the buzzer, to force overtime, but Chattanooga dominated the extra stanza to win 61-56.  Chelsey Shumpert poured in 26 points to carry her team.

Surprise? Predicted to finish first in the conference, they were first and undefeated, four games ahead of East Tennessee State.

RPI: 21

SOS: 102

Record: 29-3 (16-0 Southern)

Good wins: Tennessee.  Stanford.

Bad losses: At Arkansas State.

Who's driving this thing? Jim Foster, since 2013, a Temple alum.

Extra, Extra! The Times Free Press.


Sophomore forward Jasmine Joyner leads the Mocs with 12.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 4.1 blocks.  Sophomore guard Chelsey Shumpert adds 11.7 points on 37.5% from beyond the arc, while freshman guard/forward Keiana Gilbert chips in 10.4 points.  Junior guard Alicia Payne is the primary facilitator, with 3.4 assists.

This is a very young team; of the eight players who play significant minutes, two are seniors and one is a junior.