ASHEVILLE, N.C. --- Top-seeded University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team defeated No. 8 Georgia Southern 78-53 in the quarterfinals of the 2013 Southern Conference Tournament at Kimmel Arena Saturday afternoon.

The Lady Mocs improve to 27-3 overall while the Eagles season ends at 8-23. UTC will move on to play either No. 4 Appalachian State or No. 5 College of Charleston Sunday at Noon at the U.S. Cellular Center.

Junior Alex Black (Memphis, Tenn.) led a balanced offensive attack by the Lady Mocs with a team-high 13 points in 22 minutes. She was 5-of-8 from the field with three 3-pointers including two to start the second half.

Senior Kayla Christopher (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) and junior Faith Dupree (Knoxville, Tenn.) each tossed in 12 for Chattanooga. Christopher was 2-of-4 from beyond the arc with three rebounds and three assists while playing a team-high 25 minutes. Dupree was 6-of-9 from the blocks in just 16 minutes on the floor.

Chattanooga outscored the Eagles 20-10 in the paint and 33-8 of the bench. On the boards, the Lady Mocs outrebounded GSU 40-32 with 13 offensive boards and 16 second chance points. Georgia Southern had 12 offensive boards with 18 put backs. The Lady Mocs, with 19 assists, had just 12 turnovers resulting in eight Eagle points while UTC capitalized on 15 GSU miscues with a 19-point effort.

With the score tied 12-12 in the first half, the Lady Mocs put together a 10-0 run to get out front 22-12, however, the Eagles matched the run with a 10-0 spurt of their own to tie it up 22-22 with 5:22 to play in the first. Christopher drained a trey with 4:59 to play, sparking a 20-10 closing effort in the opening stanza and Chattanooga led 42-32 at intermission.

In the second half, Chattanooga pulled away beginning with a 3-pointer from junior Taylor Hall (New Tazewell, Tenn.) at the 17:45 mark. That led to a 15-0 run capped off by a pair of free throws from senior Kylie Lambert (Etowah, Tenn.) with 12:20 on the clock to put UTC up 60-36.

Junior Destiny Bramblett (Radcliff, Ky.) hit a layup with 1:17 to play to give Chattanooga a 77-50 lead, its largest of the game. Hall had six points and five rebounds with a team-high four assists while junior Ashlen Dewart (Spartanburg, S.C.) had a team-high seven rebounds with eight points. Freshman Tatianna Jackson (Atlanta, Ga.) had seven points and five rebounds and Lambert had six points, four rebounds and a team-best four assists.

Chattanooga shot 28-of-62 (45.2%) from the field and was 11-of-23 from the 3-point arc and made 11-of-15 from the free throw line. Georgia Southern was 18-of-57 (31.6%) from the field with five 3-pointers and was 12-of-15 from the free throw line.

Anna Claire Knight and Meredyth Frye each posted a game-high 15 points and MiMi DuBose added 13 with three 3-pointers. Frye was 6-of-6 from the free throw line and had two steals while committing seven turnovers. Danielle Spencer had a game-high tying seven rebounds with two points and a pair of blocked shots.

Follow all the action Sunday on ESPN3. Larry Ward will have the call on ESPN 105.1 FM and live stats will be available at GoMocs.com. The game is set to tip off at 12:00 p.m. at the U.S. Cellular Center.