ChattETSU11122010

11/12/10 - East Tennessee at Chattanooga

I had both East Tennessee and Chattanooga ranked pretty high in the East Coast Mid-Major poll coming into the year. Both though have sustained some significant losses. The losses start with East Tennessee State losing three main players for them Siarra Evans and Taronda Wiles to graduation while Tarita Gordon will miss this season with a knee injury she sustained in the summer. Chattanooga had similar issues with players deciding not to return as well as one of their top incoming freshman deciding she would not enroll until the spring semester.

ETSU is talented, Tara Davis is probably one of the best mid major guards in the country and they return Latisha Belcher from injury. As you could see in the pre-season boxes its been a chore getting her back in the flow of basketball after missing nearly two years. Belcher missed some layups and easy sticks in the UTC game but if she starts regaining her touch boy they’re going to be good.

At this point Tara Davis makes ETSU go they’re a little stagnant on offense but so athletic and big compared to UTC and the rest of their league that the get away with just out athleting you. I’ve come to the assumption both teams are going to be pretty good this year whether they’ll be as dominant as the past I doubt but it wouldn’t shock me to see either team win their league and give some major’s a run for their money in the non conference. Destiny Mitchell is probably ETSU’s best new comer a power guard who rebounds the ball and has good size is going to be a tough match up for a lot of people throughout the season.

On to the game

1st Half - Pretty even it was UTC’s balance versus Tara Davis’s going wild for 18 first half points on only 9 shots and hitting 3 3’s. ETSU was able to gain a 1 point lead by only turning over the ball 5 times all half. 2nd Half - A lot of the same, UTC had no answer for Davis and when ETSU could use her to tote the load for ETSU, UTC was unable to find someone on the offensive end who they could go to as a player who could just create and score at will. UTC got down 12 with around 400 left in the game and just never could get buckets, Gwen Washington knocked down a shot with about 300 minutes to go with the shot clock running out that put ETSU up 14 followed by Latisha Belcher adding a free throw to extend the lead to 15. The final score was 77-60 Tara Davis finished with 23 points and freshman Destiny Mitchell finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Chattanooga is more of a system team while they do need talent they need chemistry, experience, and kids who buy into the system more. Whitney Hood is a transfer from Clemson who gives the Moc’s a defensive presence but is more of an offensive liability on the offensive end where she doesn’t really fit the scheme of what UTC wants to do in spread the floor and have kids who are interchangeable. In the end Hood just didn’t score enough and finish if she does they could be pretty good once again.

Star Watch

Kim Smith - Florida Atlantic - 23 Points 7 Assist 0 Turnovers vs. Webber
Valencia McFarland - Ole Miss - 7 Points 7 Assist 1 Turnover 7 Rebounds vs. Jackson State
Kevi Luper - Oral Roberts - 28 Points in a 110-58 Win vs. TX Arlington
Jamierra Faulkner - Southern Miss - 20 Points 6 Assist 3 Rebounds vs. McNeese State
Tara Davis - East Tennessee -

Opening Day Winners - Figurative and Literal

Jacksonville University - After a rough 2009-2010 campaign they went down to Tampa and only fell to South Florida by 5 points they’ve lost the last two years by 10 total points to the Bulls.

Point Guards in Mississippi - Jamierra Faulkner (Southern Miss) and Valencia McFarland (Ole Miss) both are freshman and hand big days for the respective clubs in wins. Both will be leaders for those programs for four years.

Xavier - The Musketeers looked like they were on a mission steam rolling South Carolina today in Columbia to kick off the season.

Tom Hodges - Kept Morehead State close with Kentucky for a half and had clearly the loudest out fit of opening day.

Jessica Breland - North Carolina - After battling cancer, Breland was back on the court for the Tarheels today as the kicked off versus North Florida in a romp.

Kendra Long - Georgia State - After switching from Georgia Tech to Georgia State late last spring the freshman Long scored 13 points against Tech today and kept Georgia State close to only a 10 point loss.

Robin Pingeton - Missouri - Took a team which wasn’t very good last year and got a win over a good Memphis team picked pretty high in Conference USA and beat them by 20 on the road today Kudos!