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• Summitt says work needed on defense
• Wright's 35 points carry Virginia past Lady Vols
• No. 16 Virginia upsets Lady Vols

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Chattanooga needs no introduction today as Tennessee's opponent in its women's basketball season opener.

The Lady Mocs' visit for a 3 o'clock tipoff at Thompson-Boling Arena marks the fifth consecutive season that UT has opened against them and the third straight time at home.

"I know they do a great job and we are familiar with their style of play,'' UT coach Pat Summitt said. "Coach Wes Moore does a great job of preparing his teams and having them get up and down the floor, and they really have great spacing offensively and a toughness to them. We are going to need to be very focused and go into that game understanding that we have to defend."

Chattanooga, which opened with a 64-50 victory at Austin Peay on Friday night, returns virtually intact from last season's 25-8 Southern Conference championship season, which ended with a 68-55 loss to Baylor in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

The Lady Mocs were the preseason pick to win their ninth consecutive conference championship. Senior forward Alex Anderson was picked to repeat as conference player of the year and guards Brooke Hand and Laura Hall, a former standout at Oliver Springs High School, were chosen to the preseason all-conference team.

The Lady Vols better be braced for another 3-point barrage. The Lady Mocs tied an arena record for the opposition with 13 treys in last season's game. They proceeded to rewrite their conference record for 3-pointers in a season with 257.

A preseason Internet article tabbed Chattanooga as a prime candidate to follow in the footsteps of Marist College, which upset Ohio State and Middle Tennessee State in last season's NCAA tournament and advanced to the Sweet 16 as a No. 13 seed.

Tennessee is familiar with Marist as well. The Lady Vols ended the Red Foxes' run with a 65-46 victory in the Dayton (Ohio) Regional semifinals.

Season Tickets: While sales haven't topped the record 11,604 sold for the 1998-99 season, they are close at 11,486.

The Lady Vols will continue to sell season tickets after today's season opener.

Notebook: Freshman center Kelley Cain, who injured her right knee on Wednesday, is out for today's game. ... Angie Bjorklund will become the 11th freshmen today to start in her first game at Tennessee ... Former Powell start Erin Ogan, a 6-foot-1 junior, starts for the Mocs. ... Moore ranks fifth among active coaches in overall winning percentage at .779 (416-118). ... Tennessee will open next season at Chattanooga.

© 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.