It was a career night for several University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball players as the Mocs posted a 76-47 win over Butler in non-conference action
Wednesday night at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse.
Sophomore Jasmine Joyner (Southaven, Miss.) put up 20 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds. With three blocked shots on the night, she improves her career total to 61, four behind Erin Ogan for fifth all-time at UTC.
Freshman Keiana Gilbert (Columbia, Tenn.) also had a career-night with 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field and eight rebounds. She also dished out five of Chattanooga’s 20 assists and added a pair of steals. Sophomore Chelsey Shumpert (Paducah, Ky.) was the Mocs’ third player in double figures with 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers adding three assists and three steals.
The Mocs shot 31-of-61 from the field (50.8%) and were 8-of-22 (36.4%) from beyond the arc. Joyner had all of Chattanooga’s free throws, making 6-of-7.
“I thought we did a pretty good job of moving the ball, except for a couple of possessions,” UTC head coach Jim Foster said. “We played decent defense.”
Butler, playing with a limited roster due to injuries, had its only lead of the night on a 3-pointer from Sydney Buck in the opening minutes, 3-2 at the 18:57 mark. After that it was all Chattanooga. The Mocs built its lead to as much as 16 points twice in the first half.
The Bulldogs opened the second half with a 3-pointer, but the Mocs pushed the offense with 11 straight points three minutes to make it a 46-23 game with 14:01 to play. The Bulldogs cut the Mocs lead to 18 twice more, but Chattanooga would continue its offensive onslaught with freshman Anna Claire Noblit (Tuscumbia, Ala.) and redshirt freshman Ansley Chilton (Trenton, Ga.) putting up career numbers.
Chilton, in her collegiate debut, was 4-of-5 on the night with eight points and five rebounds in just nine minutes on the floor while Noblit drained two of her four 3-point attempts for six points.
Butler struggled with just six players rotating through most of the night and a seventh making a quick appearance as time ticked off the clock. Injuries have plagued the Bulldogs who fall to 0-3 on the year.
Loryn Goodwin led Butler with 18 points with a pair of 3-pointers and was 6-of-8 from the charity stripe. Blaire Langlois was the only other Bulldog in double figures with 10 points and five rebounds. Butler shot just 30.2 percent from the field and was 7-of-16 from beyond the arc.
The Mocs outrebounded Butler 45-24 and turned 15 turnovers into 20 points. Chattanooga’s largest lead was 32 points, 76-44, with 27 seconds to play on a fastbreak layup by Shumpert after a steal.
UTC improves to 2-1 on the season and will head to South Bend, Ind., to take on No. 3/2 ranked Notre Dame. The game is set to tip at 5 p.m. Eastern time and Larry Ward will have the call on The Legend 96.1 FM.