The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team made it a sweep, surging past fellow system school, the University of Tennessee at Martin 65-54
Saturday night at the Elam Center.
Sophomores Chelsey Shumpert (Paducah, Ky.) and Jasmine Jones (Southaven, Miss.) along with senior Ka’Vonne Towns (Lilburn, Ga.) combined for 45 of Chattanooga’s points. Shumpert scored 13 of her team-high 16 points in the second half along with three assists and a pair of steals in the frame.
She closed out the game making 6-of-12 from the field and 4-of-9 from beyond the arc with three rebounds and four assists.
Towns was 5-of-10 from the 3-point line, a career-high for long range bombs and closed out the game with 15 points, four assists and six steals. Joyner shot 70 percent for the game making 7-of-10 and grabbed four rebounds.
Joyner started the game with a pair of layups and Shumpert capped off the 12-3 run with a 3-pointer with 14:37 to go in the opening half, but it would be all SkyHawks for the next 5:41 as UTM went on a 14-0 run to get out front 17-12 with 8:48 to play in the first half.
The teams played it even the remainder of the half and the Mocs trailed 33-28 at intermission.
Joyner started the scoring for Chattanooga again in the second half. The Mocs went on an 8-2 run to take its first lead in more than 17 minutes on a layup by Joyner to make it 38-37 at the 17:14 mark. The ShyHawks briefly retook the lead but Joyner would tie it up on another layup, making it 40-40 with 16:09 to play.
Towns snagged one of her six steals just a moment later and passed the ball down the court to Shumpert who was racing ahead for a fastbreak layup and the lead for good with just 15:40 to play. That started a 10-0 run putting the Mocs out front 48-40 with just over 14 minutes to play.
UT Martin cut the lead to four on a pair of layups but the Mocs outscored the SkyHawks 13-2 over the next 3:51 for Chattanooga’s largest lead of the game, 61-46, with 8:45 to play.
After shooting 40 percent in the opening frame, the Mocs went 15-of-30 in the second half and was 25-of-55 for the game. The Mocs were 11-of-31 from beyond the arc for the most 3-pointers made in a game this season.
UT Martin outdueled the Mocs 33-29 on the boards led by Tiara Caldwell’s double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Ashia Jones had a game-high 27 points on 11-of-18 shooting and was 5-of-7 from the free throw line.
Chattanooga returns home to host No. 7 Stanford at the Roundhouse. The game is set to tip off at
6 p.m. Purchase tickets online at GoMocs.com or at the McKenzie Arena at 423-266-MOCS (6627).