A Southern Conference championship, 29 overall wins and an undefeated conference record a year ago helped Chattanooga gain a level of national notice. With wins against two top-10 teams in Tennessee and Stanford this season, the Mocs and head coach Jim Foster are again making a statement.
Winners of 45 of the past 46 home games at McKenzie Arena, Chattanooga continued to role at home, defeating then-No. 7 Stanford 54-46 on Dec. 17 as Chelsey Shumpert scored a career-high 18 points, including five 3-pointers in the win. Stanford shot just 27.7 percent against a swarming Chattanooga defense and absorbed its first regular-season, non-conference loss to an unranked foe since falling at Saint Mary's on Nov. 17, 2000.
The Mocs continued to roll following the Stanford win, defeating Morgan State (55-40) and North Carolina A&T (58-43) to win the Chattanooga Christmas Classic. In the win against North Carolina A&T, the Mocs shot better than 50 percent for the third time this season, making 20 of 38 (52.6 percent) from the field and held the Aggies to 34.6 percent from the floor (18-for-52), marking the third consecutive Chattanooga opponent to be held to under 35 percent from the field.
Winners of five consecutive games, Chattanooga improved to 9-3 on the year with the 3-0 week and head to San Antonio for the UTSA Holiday Classic this week, facing SIU Edwardsville on Dec. 28 and South Dakota on Dec. 29.
