The UTC women's basketball team posted a strong 76-61 win against regional rival Kennesaw State Friday night in the second game of the DoubleTree Classic at the McKenzie Arena. The Lady Mocs dominated the inside and overcame a hot-shooting first half by the Owls to improve to 2-3 on the season while Kennesaw State dropped to 2-3.
Senior Shanara Holinquest (Sylacauga, Ala.) recorded her fourth double-double of the year and the 19th of her career by logging season-highs with 26 points and 12 rebounds. KSU had no answer for the Preseason Southern Conference Player of the Year as Hollinquest controlled the paint by shooting 11-of-15 from the field and grabbing five offensive boards.
Freshman Michelle Davis, a 6-2 forward from Cleveland, Tn., also had a strong game inside. She scored a season-high 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, 1-for-2 from 3-point range and 3-for-4 from the free throw line. She also tied her season-high with eight boards on the night.
The first half showed off two contrasting styles between the two teams. Chattanooga pounded KSU inside, outscoring the Owls 20-6 in the paint. Kennesaw State kept it close by going 6-10 from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes. Four different Owls hit from long range in the first period.
The Lady Mocs ran out to a 15-7 lead after the first four minutes of the game. Kennesaw State answered with a pair of threes from Angie Smith and Kayla Weaver to pull to 17-13 at the 13:25 mark.
Chattanooga went on a 7-0 spurt over the next two minutes to grab an 11-point lead at 24-13. However, five straight points by Weaver cut the lead to 24-18.
UTC went inside to spark an 8-0 run behind four points each from Hollinquest and Davis. Davis's layup underneath gave the Lady Mocs a 14-point advantage at 32-18 with just over seven minutes left in the half. It was Chattanooga's largest lead of the half.
The Owls closed on a 13-5 run led by consecutive three pointers from Brandi Jones and Ashley Holiday. A layup by Montinique Nixon cut UTC's lead to 37-31 at the break.
The teams traded baskets for the first six minutes of the second half. KSU pulled to 44-40 on a layup by Lisa Capellan, but that set off a decisive 20-1 run by UTC over the next six minutes to take control of the game. Chattanooga scored 10 more points inside during that span, capped by a layup from freshman Kayla Christopher (Oliver Springs, Tn.) to give the Mocs a 64-41 lead with 7:06 left to play.
For the game UTC shot 47.5% from the field and were 54.5% (24-of-44) from inside the 3-point line. The Lady Mocs held KSU to just 31.3% from the field, a season-low for a UTC opponent through five games.
The Owls outside shooting cooled off in the second half, going just 5-for-19 in the final 20 minutes. However, Chattanooga continued to dominate the inside outscoring KSU 22-10 in the paint in the second half.
Senior Jenaya Wade-Fray (Madison, Ala.) had a solid game for UTC. She scored 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting, 1-for-2 from 3-point range and 4-for-5 from the charity stripe. Freshman Erin Helton (Cookeville, Tn.) had season-highs with nine rebounds and four blocks off the bench for the Lady Mocs.
Villanova defeated Evansville 56-49 in the first game of the DoubleTree Classic. The Wildcats were led by Laura Sweeney who had a game-high 14 points off the bench. She went 7-of-11 from the field to help Villanova improve to 3-1 on the season. Maria Getty added 13 points and five assists while Heather Scanlon came off the bench to grab a game-high 12 rebounds. Eva Benson had 11 points off the bench to lead the Purple Aces who fell to 0-4 on the season.
The Lady Mocs will take on Villanova tomorrow in the Championship Game of the DoubleTree Classic at 5:00 p.m. (E.S.T.). The game can be heard on 95.3 FM, The Pulse, in Chattanooga or online through Chattanooga All-Access on GoMocs.com. Larry Ward will provide the play-by-play from courtside at the McKenzie Arena. Kennesaw State and Evansville will start the action on Saturday in the consolation game that begins at 3:00 p.m.