ASHEVILLE, N.C. (March 8, 2026) - The No. 1 seeded Chattanooga Mocs women's basketball team suffered a heartbreaking 72-67 defeat to No. 6 Samford in the 2026 Southern Conference Tournament championship game on Sunday afternoon inside the Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville, N.C.
Following the defeat, Chattanooga falls to 20-10 overall on the season while Samford improves to 16-18 and punches its ticket to the 2026 NCAA Tournament following the victory.
Samford becomes the first No. 6 seed to win the SoCon Women's Championship since Appalachian State in 1999. Chattanooga suffers just its second championship game loss, across 22 total appearances in the title game (20-2).
All-SoCon Tournament Team
G
Gianna Corbitt (1st Team)
G
Caia Elisaldez (1st Team)
Records/Series
Chattanooga 20-10
Samford 16-18
Chattanooga Leaders
G
Izzy McPherson – 17 points, 6-15 FG (5-13 3FG), 3 assists
G
Caia Elisaldez – 20 points, 8-16 FG (4-4 FT), 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals
F
Gianna Corbitt – 9 points, 3-8 FG (1-2 3FG), 12 rebounds, 2 assists
Samford Leaders
G Kaylee Yarbrough - 25 points, 8-13 FG (5-7 3FG)
G Francie Morris - 22 points, 8-15 (3-6 3FG), 6 rebounsd, 3 assists
Game Breakdown
- Chattanooga opened the game knocking down its first four three-point attempts to jump out to a 14-3 lead just three minutes in.
- Samford responded with an emphatic 20-6 scoring run over the final 6:50 of the first quarter to grab a 23-20 lead at the end of one.
- The run for the Bulldogs continued over the early stages of the second quarter as the team built a seven-point lead, 33-26, with 4:53 left before halftime.
- Chattanooga ultimately trailed by eight at the halftime break, 35-27, as the two teams combined for ten threes with Samford responsible for six.
- After the Mocs cut its deficit to four, 37-33 (3Q 7:30), Samford posted a 17-10 scoring advantage over the remainder of the frame to take a 54-43 lead into the fourth.
- McPherson provided a huge spark to the UTC offense as back-to-back triples made it a two-point game, 60-58, with just 5:35 remaining.
- Trailing 70-67 with less than 10 seconds remaining, Kalifa Ford's potential game-tying three in the corner clanked off the rim as the Bulldogs grabbed the board and sealed the game on the FT line.
Quotes
Coach Deandra Schirmer, 2nd Season
Opening Statement:
"I'm gutted for our team. March Madness is madness for a reason. I thought our team played very, very hard tonight. All credit to Samford, I thought they played fantastic shooting 58 percent from three. Tip our hats to them, From our standpoint, I'm proud of our fight. This group of young women, they're very special individuals, whether that's basketball related or not. I'm very proud of them always, so that doesn't change after today's result."
On fourth quarter surge:
"We tried a little switch up in the fourth quarter. That kind of brought us a little bit closer. We were able to make a push. Credit to our team, we were down at halftime and all of them in the locker room were like, 'we got this'. I felt we were poised throughout. Sometimes, there are games where the other team was just better and that was kind of how I felt after today's game."
Notables
- UTC knocked down 10 threes, totaling 34 for three games which set the SoCon Tournament record for most 3FG in a tournament, breaking its own record of 31 from 2010... It also set the record for 3FG attempts with 84.
- Corbitt tied the SoCon Tournament Record for the most 3FG in a Tournament with 12.
- Chattanooga drops to 32-14 all-time against Samford... The Mocs are 69-23 in the SoCon Tournament... UTC is 42-7 as the No. 1 seed.
Up Next: Chattanooga is expecting a bid to the WBIT and should find out its draw in a week.
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