UTC senior Ka'vonne Towns (11) with coach Jim Foster and family members after the game
photo by Greg Davick
It was Senior Day Saturday afternoon for Ka'Vonne Towns and the UTC senior walked off the McKenzie Arena floor for the last time with a basket full of memories and points.
The Lilburn, Ga. native totaled 14 points and four rebounds as the Lady Mocs ran past visiting East Tenn. State, 64-42, in a Southern Conference women's basketball game.
Ranked No.18 and having clinched the SoCon regular season title, the Lady Mocs are 26-3 overall, 14-0 in the SoCon, while ETSU is 19-10 overall, 11-3 in the SoCon.
Towns came out firing, connecting from long range as she hit three straight 3s by the first media timeout (15:28) to help guide the Mocs to an 11-0 lead and the hosts were on their way to their 22nd straight win this season and 48th straight regular season SoCon victory.
What's Next? UTC has earned the No. 1 seed in the upcoming SoCon tourney (March 6-8 Asheville NC) and plasy its opening game Thursday March 5 at noon with the radio broadcast on 96.1 FM.
In the early going vs. ETSU, UTC coud do little wrong and the Bucs could do little right.
The Mocs led 15-0 before ETSU scored (Shamauria Bridges jumper at 11:45). By that time, ETSU was 1 of 6 from the field with seven turnovers, while the Lady Mocs were shooting 6 of 12 from the field, 3 of 5 from 3-point land with four steals.
With three minutes before half, the Mocs had more than doubled the lead (29-13) was 5-9 from beyond the arc led in rebounds 14-11 and had scored six points off 10 ETSU miscues.
"We rebounded well in the first half (17-12), moved the ball well and a characteristic of a good team is getting the ball in the hands of those who are hot and we did that today," said UTC coach Jim Foster.
Second Half: Both teams shot 54% from the field in the final 20 minutes but the game was long over.
* Noteworthy I: Jasmine Joyner's two blocks gives her a SoCon single season record of 118 .. breaks a 26 year old record.
* Noteworthy II: Red Payne had a career best 11 assists and 7 Steals
* Noteworthy III: UTC held ETSU to its lowest point total since the Lady Bucs lost to Richmond, 66-39, Nov. 18 2011
Coach Foster on Red Payne: "Red was her usual "payne" in the posterior and she is distractive and not afraid to put her nose where others won't. She has no fear.
"Her sense of where she is on the court is invaluable."
Towns on Her Fast Start: "I found a rhythem and just kept shooting (5-7 from the field 4-5 from 3-pt land.)
Destiny Bramlett on a Fast Start: "We started slow the last two games so today we were able to keep them off the boards and won the battle after getting torched (on the boards) at their place (40-23)."
* Third Straight Regular Season SoCon Trophy:
* Good Home Crowd: UTC drew 3,309 ... 13th largest home crowd
* Hot Start: SWISH went the first shot ... then SWISH again ... Nothing But Nylon ... and as UT announcer John Ward would say, "Bottom" .. UTC senior Ka'vonne Towns hit her first four shots - all from beyond the arc - and the Lady Mocs were off and running to a 64-42 win against East Tenn. State . Ta'vonne ended with 14 points (4-5 from3s and 5-7 overall.
Chattanooga 64, ETSU 42
ETSU 13 - 29 -- 42
UTC 31 - 33 -- 64
Points in the Paint: UTC, 28-22
Points off Turnovers: UTC, 21-4
2nd Chance Points: UTC, 11-5
Fast Break Points: UTC, 6-4
Bench Points: UTC, 18-11
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net