Faith DuPree
photo by Tim Evearitt
Scoring a game-high 21 points, Chattanooga senior Faith DuPree celebrated her 23rd birthday in style leading the Mocs to a come-from-behind 76-65 win against visiting Belmont Sunday afternoon at McKenzie Arena in a women's college basketball game.
Connecting on outside jumpers and scoring in the paint, DuPree’s 17 second half points sparked the Mocs who outscored Belmont (2-2) by 20, 49-29 in the final 20 points.
Low and High: It was Belmont's lowest, second half point production of the young season and it was UTC's best scoring half in three games, topping the previous best of 45 in the first half in a 82-70 win against Alabama.
Belmont led by nine, 36-27, at intermission.
DuPree's teammate Taylor Hall contributed on both ends of the floor with 17 points, nine boards, five assists (game high), three blocks and four steals (game high).
Jordyn Luffman led Belmont with 18 points and 11 boards.
“We picked up our aggressiveness in the second half and that was a key,” said Hall.
“If I am scoring, then it opens the game up for the guards,” stated Dupree who was only 2-9 from the field for four points in the first half.
The four guards - Alicia Payne, Meghan Downes, Tatianna Jackson and Alex Black- combined for 35 points, 23 of those coming in the second half.
While Dupree celebrates her birthday – post-game dinner party at Sticky Fingers - the team celebrated its 28th straight win in McKenzie Arena.
The win streak looked in jeopardy for a time as Belmont led at by nine at half, and eight (44-36) at 15:33 of the second half, before the Mocs comeback.
A 15-4 run in just under four minutes gave UTC a 51-48 advantage at 10:57 - its first since 19-17 (6:31) on a Downes jumper - when Payne hit a jumper in the lane followed by a made free throw. Dupree tallied six points in that four minute stretch while Hall had two boards, a pair of assists and two steals.
"We played smarter, moved the ball well and scored in several different ways in the second half," coach Jim Foster said.
Belmont was able to pull even twice down the stretch – 56-56 on a layup by Frankie Joubran (7:20) and 58-58 on a pair of free throws by Adrienne Torrance (5:57), but could never regain the lead.
Next Games: UTC (2-1) hosts Alabama-Birmingham Thurs. Nov.21 and Auburn Sun. Nov 24.
New Places To Eat: In their final season together, the six UTC seniors are making the tour of good, inexpensive, out of the way, non-chain restaurants ... Universal Joint and Blue Grass Grill are among the favorites.
"Coach Foster and others have given us some good leads on restaurants to visit so this is a fun thing we can do together," Dupree stated.
Hot and Cold: Trailing 9-8 (14:04), Belmont went on a 9-2 run (Luffman had 5 points) to lead 17-11 (+6) at 10:18 ... The Bruins closed the first half with a 15-6 run to go from tied (21-21) to up nine (36-27) heading into the locker room.
UTC - Mocs trailed 44-36 (15:02) and went on a 15-4 run to lead 51-48 at 11:14 ...
Tied at 58-58 (5:57), the Mocs outscored the visitors 11-2 for a nine point lead, 69-60 (1:51) ... Hall, Dupree, Black and Payne all scored in that run ...
Seven Straight: UTC has now won seven straight against Belmont ... last loss was 58-52 at Belmont, Nov. 1978.
Closing in on 200 Wins at McKenzie: The women's basketball record in McKenzie is 194-93 in this the 31st season (1983-84 - 2013-14)... The Lady Mocs have 11 remaining regular season home games on the schedule.
Chattanooga 76, Belmont 65
Belmont 36-29 -- 65
Chattanooga 27 - 49 -- 76
Chattanooga (2-1), Belmont (2-2)
Chattanooga (76) 2-1
Pts-Rebs
Faith Dupree (21-6), Taylor Hall (17-9), Alicia "Red" Payne (10-4), Meghan Downes (10-3), Tatianna Jackson (10-4), Alex Black (5-1), Ashlen Dewart (3-2).
Assists: Hall (5), Blocks: Hall, Dupree (3) Steals: Hall (4)
Belmont (65) 2-2
Jordyn Luffman (18-11), Frankie Joubran (8-2), Blair Bryce (9-6), Adrienne Tarrance (9-5), Katie Carroll (6-1), Meredith Roman (2-0), Lauren Thompson (6-3), Torie Vaught (7-4)
Assists Carroll (4), Blocks (Bryce (1), Steals: Carroll (2)
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net