CHEROKEE, N.C. --- The Chattanooga women's basketball team saw a nine-game win streak snapped Wednesday night in the opening round of the Cherokee Invitational at Harrah's Cherokee Casino Resort, with UTC falling at the hands of Coastal Carolina, 53-49.

The Mocs (11-2, 0-0 SoCon) matched a program record for three-point attempts in a single game against the Chanticleers (6-6, 0-0 SBC), putting up a total of 38 on the night. UTC's inability to hit the three ball, along with foul and turnover woes ultimately led to Coastal Carolina handing the Mocs their second loss of the season.

Things got off to a slow start offensively for both teams, but the Mocs found their footing in the first quarter to take an 11-6 lead into the second behind a stellar defensive effort by UTC. This marked the seventh time this season that Chattanooga has held an opponent to single-digits in a quarter.

The second quarter, however, saw the Mocs put on their backfoot with the Chanticleers going on an 8-0 run over the opening four minutes of the frame to go ahead 14-11. The Mocs responded immediately after Caia Elisaldez scored the first point of the quarter for UTC, with Chattanooga going on a 10-0 scoring run of their own to retake the lead, 21-16. Unfortunately another scoring drought would hit the UTC lineup, as Coastal closed out the first half with a 10-0 run to carry a 26-21 advantage into the halftime break.

Offensive woes carried right into the second half for the Mocs, who allowed the Chanticleers to continue their scoring run all the way to the 5:00 mark of the third. It what would ultimately finish as a 16-0 run for CCU, the Mocs found themselves in a 32-21 hole with time starting to dwindle in Cherokee. The third quarter buzzer sounded with UTC trailing 39-32, and desperately needing an offensive burst to remain in the game.

That offensive burst did come for the Mocs in the form of a pair of Karsen Murphy threes early-on in the fourth, cutting Coastal Carolina's lead down to just one point. Unfortunately for the Mocs, that would be as close as UTC could cut it as turnovers and fouls that had plagued Chattanooga all game long came in between the Mocs and their comeback aspirations.

Ultimately Coastal Carolina would come away with the 53-49 win over the Mocs, snapping UTC's nine-game win streak.

FROM ASSISTANT COACH JON GOLDBERG | QUOTES
Opening statement
"Give them [Coastal Carolina] a lot of credit. They really played to their strengths and tried to muck up the game. They played hard and hit some timely shots. So give them a lot of credit."

On playing against the press
"This is kind of Coastal's MO, just non-stop press, non-stop pressure. Try to make it go up and down, kind of make it an ugly game. I thought for the most part, the girls did a decent job handling the press and their pressure. We weren't super clean in what we wanted to run in our details."

On the 3-point shooting (8-38)
"Honestly, we got some good looks tonight. We were forcing some bad looks from 3, just one of those nights. Then you've got to rely on your defense a little more heavily. We can get those shots up every single day in practice. We have confidence that our girls are going to shoot it. We know the next game is going to be A-Okay."

TOP TAKEAWAYS | NOTES
- All-time series between the Mocs and Chanticleers moves to 2-2 overall.
- This was the first matchup between the teams since 1999. First win for Coastal over UTC since 1998.
- The loss to CCU snaps a nine-game win streak for Chattanooga.
- UTC's second loss of the season, first came November 12 against Marshall.
- The Mocs returned to the usual starting lineup of Porter, Guinn, Olafsdottir, Thompson and Murphy. This starting five now has a record of 9-2 on the year.
- This was just the second time UTC trailed its opponent at the half. The other time this season came against #21 Mississippi State, a game that the Mocs would go on to win.
- Chattanooga's 49 points scored tied a season-low for the team, matching their scoring output from their game against Kennesaw State.
- The Mocs held CCU to just six points in the opening quarter.
- This marked the seventh time this season that UTC has held its opponent to single-digits in a quarter.
- Jada Guinn has scored 10+ points in every game this season for the Mocs.
- Guinn and Thompson have now accounted for 391 of Chattanooga's 840 total points on the year (46.6 percent of team's scoring output).
- UTC shot just 26.7 percent (16-for-60) from the floor on the night. Not only was this a season-low, but it was the first time the team shot below 40 percent this season.
- The Mocs finished 8-for-38 (21.1 percent) from three in the game. This ties a program record for most three attempted by UTC in a single game.
- The other two times the Mocs shot 38 threes in a game were against St. Mary's (Calif.) on November 24, 2012, and against Louisville on November 24, 2007.
- 26 total fouls were called on the Mocs. This marks a team season-high.
- Jada Guinn and Addie Grace Porter both came away with 10 rebounds each in the game. The last time two Mocs finished with double-digit rebounds in the same game was in the 2023 SoCon Tournament Semifinal against ETSU (Abbey Cornelius - 12, Raven Thompson - 10).

UP NEXT: RICHMOND
The Mocs will now have an opportunity to close out the Cherokee Invitational by returning to the win column tomorrow, as UTC is now scheduled to take on Richmond (9-3, 0-0 A10) in the tournament's consolation game. Tip-off between the Mocs and the Spiders is set for 7 p.m. ET, and the game will be available on BallerTV as well as over the radio on 96.1 FM/100.3 FM/1070 AM.

50 SEASONS OF CHATTANOOGA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
The 2023 season for the Chattanooga women's basketball team marks a major landmark for the program and the university, as UTC women's basketball officially celebrates its 50th season of competition as a university sponsored athletic program. Following the adoption of the Title IX legislation back in 1972, UTC added women's basketball, tennis and volleyball programs to its roster of athletic teams, bringing on five decades of history and success for each of the teams. Chattanooga WBB will be putting on multiple promotions and content pieces throughout the 2023-24 season to celebrate the program's history, culminating in the team hosting its 50th Season Celebration and Reunion during the Mocs' February 3 matchup against Furman at McKenzie Arena.

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