SoCon Women’s Tournament Preview

The Southern Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament is slated to get underway Thursday. After a three-way tie for first-place atop the standings, it’s Chattanooga (18-9, 10-4 SoCon) that won the tiebreaker and will be the No. 1 overall seed heading into the tournament, despite being upset on the final day of league play, falling 68-55 on the road at Mercer. 

The three-way tie for first place marked the first time since the COVID-19 compromised 2020 season that there had been a three-way tie for the league’s regular-season title between Samford, Chattanooga and UNCG. The tie between Chattanooga, Wofford and ETSU marks just the second three-way tie for the regular-season league crown in league history.

Despite the setback to the Bears, the Mocs benefited from Furman, which posted a season-sweeping win over Wofford, knocking off the Terriers, 64-42, at Timmons Arena. It was the Mocs’ 24th Southern Conference title. With the loss, the Terriers will head to Asheville as the No. 3 seed. The third part of that three-way tie for the title was No. 2 seed East Tennessee State (17-12, 10-4 SoCon), which by sharing the league crown, joined the outright champion Buccaneers on the men’s side. This marked the first time in program history that both the men’s and women’s teams won regular-season titles in the same season.

The No. 1 Mocs will open the 2026 tournament against No. 8 seed Western Carolina (3-25, 0-14 SoCon), with tip-off time slated for 11 am on Thursday. The Mocs, seeking their 21st Southern Conference Tournament title, were a perfect 20-0 in league tournament title games until last March. That’s when UNC Greensboro defeated them, 64-57, in overtime. The Spartans handed the Mocs their first-ever loss in a title game, clinching their second trip to the NCAA Women’s Tournament (and first since 1998) with that thrilling championship game win.

This season, however, has not gone quite as well for the Spartans, who had to replace three starters from last year’s team that won 25 games. UNCG (14-15, 4-10 SoCon) will head to the Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville to take on No. 2 ETSU in the 1:15 game. The Bucs closed out the regular-season with a 46-39 win over Samford in Johnson City. Thanks to Mercer and Furman both handing the Terriers and Mocs losses on the final day of the regular season, the Bucs clinched a share of the spoils and ended up as the No. 2 seed.

Third-seeded Wofford (16-12, 10-4 SoCon) will begin its 2026 tournament at 3:30 p.m. It will take on No. 6 seed Samford (13-18, 6-8 SoCon), coached by the league’s lone first-year head coach, Matt Wise. Wofford 10th-year head coach Jimmy Garrity is hoping to lead his Terriers to their first NCAA Tournament, after having gotten the Lady Terriers to the brink of the ultimate breakthrough twice, with championship game losses in both the 2021 and 2023 tournaments.

Rounding out the quarterfinal action at Harrah’s Cherokee Center for day one will be No. 4 Furman (17-12, 9-5 SoCon) and No. 5 Mercer (17-12, 7-7 SoCon), which will face each other at approximately 5:45 p.m. Thursday. 

1. Chattanooga (18-9, 10-4 SoCon)

With 24 regular-season titles and 20 conference tournament crowns, the Lady Mocs are the gold standard in SoCon Women’s Basketball. Second-year head coach Deandra Schirmer has built her team around two returning starters: junior guard Caia Elisaldez (16.4 PPG, 5.4 APG) and sophomore wing Gianna Corbitt (15.1 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 51.2 FG%).

The Mocs have been an offensive juggernaut this season, leading the league in overall field goal percentage (41.9%), while ranking third in scoring offense (64 points per game). The Mocs won both regular-season meetings against UNCG, although the second meeting could have gone either way with the Mocs holding off the Spartans, 56-54, at Mackenzie Arena back on Feb. 21. The Mocs are looking for their first title since defeating UNCG 69-60 in the title game just two years ago.

2. East Tennessee State (17-12, 10-4 SoCon)

ETSU heads into the conference tournament as the hottest team in the league, having won five straight games. SoCon Coach of the Year Brenda Mock-Brown has her Lady Bucs playing their best basketball at just the right time. The Lady Bucs have SoCon Defensive Player of the Year Meghan Downing (8.4 PPG, 8.3 RPG). The 6-foot-2 forward posted 53 blocks and 18 steals this season, while also showing adept passing ability by dishing out 29 assists. 

3. Wofford (16-12, 10-4 SoCon)

Jimmy Garrity’s Wofford team has been knocking on the door of a title, and this could be the year the Terriers get it right in Asheville. If so, the Terriers will need a big tournament from SoCon Freshman of the Year and guard Gabby Mundy (15.4 PPG, 5.4 RPG) and first-team All-SoCon pick forward Queen Ikhiuwu (13.1 PPG, 7.3 RPG).
4. Furman (17-12, 9-5 SoCon)

Pierre Curtis continues to mold this Furman Lady Paladins team into a regular Southern Conference contender. This season, the young Paladins have proven they can play with anyone in the league, having swept Wofford and split with ETSU—two of the three teams that tied for the title. If the Paladins hope to make it a run though, they will have to find a way past Mercer, the team with whom they split the season series and lost the most recent matchup, 80-63, on Feb. 21 at Timmons Arena. The Paladins will need a big weekend from sophomore forward and leading scorer Clare Coyle (14.9 PPG, 9.3 RPG, 41 BLKs) and 5-foot-11 sophomore guard Alyssa Ervin (13.3 PPG, 3.3 RPG,44 threes) if they hope to reach the NCAA Tournament for the third time in program history. 

5. Mercer (17-12, 7-7 SoCon)

The darkhorse in this edition of the 2026 tournament could be the Mercer Bears. Second-year head coach Michelle Clark-Heard has her team playing well at the right time, as the Bears have won two out of three entering tournament action, including a 68-55 win over league champion and No. 1 seed Chattanooga on the final day of the regular-season. 

6. Samford (13-18, 6-8 SoCon)

First-year head coach Matt Wise has a good blend of veteran leadership and talented rookie additions. One rookie rewarded for her strong season is 5-foot-9 guard Francie Morris, who posted a season-high 26 points in Samford’s recent 68-59 road win at Furman. In her first year of college basketball, she reached double figures in six of 14 league games for the Bulldogs.

7. UNCG (14-15, 4-10 SoCon)

This team has ability, as it showed in its recent road loss to No. 1 overall seed and league regular-season tri-champion Chattanooga (L, 56-54), but the Spartans have largely struggled to hit their stride this season and haven’t really gotten into a rhythm. The Spartans lost six of their last seven league games, but they can glean confidence from a 68-54 win in the regular-season finale at Western Carolina. 

8. Western Carolina (3-25, 0-14 SoCon)

When Jonathan Tsipsis took over as the head coach at Western Carolina, he inherited the toughest job in Southern Conference women’s basketball. After winning three games in the league a year ago, the Catamounts have won just three games total this season and have lost 15-straight SoCon games dating back to last season’s quarterfinal loss to UNCG. Beating top-seeded Chattanooga would be considered one of the biggest upsets in SoCon history on either the men’s or women’s side!