UTC Women Down ETSU 60-45 For 11th Straight Regular Season SoCon Win

  • Saturday, January 14, 2017
UTC's Shelbie Davenport (22) brings the ball up just outside the lane as she looks for an opening to the basket.
UTC's Shelbie Davenport (22) brings the ball up just outside the lane as she looks for an opening to the basket.
photo by Dennis Norwood

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team cruised to a 60-45 win over East Tennessee State Saturday afternoon at the McKenzie Arena for its 11th consecutive regular season win in Southern Conference action.

The Mocs improve to 9-8 overall and 3-0 against the league while the Bucs fall to .500 on the year at 9-9 and 1-2 in SoCon play.

Freshman Lakelyn Bouldin (Spencer, Tenn.) led three Chattanooga players in double figures with 17 points, one shy of her career-high. She was 4-of-6 from beyond the arc and leads the Mocs with 35 this season. She added three rebounds and a pair of assists in 34 minutes on the floor.

Junior Chelsey Shumpert (Paducah, Ky.) had 13 points and a matched her career-high for rebounds with seven. She led the Mocs with four assists, was 4-of-4 from the free throw line and had two steals. Senior Queen Alford (Decatur, Ga.) was the third player in double figures, connecting on all four of her free throw attempts for 10 points in the game.

The Mocs scored first and never trailed. The two teams traded shots early before Chattanooga pulled ahead for a 16-11 first quarter lead. That lead stretched to nine points, 29-20 at the half as the Mocs outscored ETSU 13-9 in the second period.

Bouldin opened the third quarter scoring with a 3-pointer to give Chattanooga a 12-point lead, 32-20. Shumpert would end the 18-7 run by the Mocs in the period with back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 47-27 with 2:20 remaining in the frame for their largest lead. UTC was 6-of-10 in the run, making five 3-pointers in the effort.

Chattanooga maintained its double-digit lead the rest of the way, never letting ETSU any closer than 12 points. Chattanooga held the Bucs to a season-low 45 points, making just 17-of-66 from the field. League-leading scorer Tianna Tarter had a game-high 19 points, 12 in the second half, making 7-of-16. Raven Dean had a double-double for ETSU with 10 points and 12 boards.

Shamauria Bridges, who leads the SoCon in 3-pointers made with nearly three per game, made just one of her 10 attempts from long range.

Senior Jasmine Joyner (Southaven, Miss.) had nine blocked shots, matching her school record set earlier this season against Bowling Green. That is a McKenzie Arena record as is the 11 team blocked shots. Joyner moves to 16th all-time on the NCAA career list for blocked shots, passing Jessica Davenport who played for Jim Foster at Ohio State from 2004-07.

Chattanooga was 21-of-50 for the game and made 7-of-18 from beyond the arc and 11-of-16 from the free throw line. UTC edged the Bucs in the paint 28-22 and had 10 points on 12 ETSU turnovers. The Mocs had 10 points off 19 offensive rebounds but the Bucs won the boards 42-40.

UTC’s bench contributed eight points with junior Aryanna Gilbert (Pulaski, Tenn.) scoring four points with five rebounds, three assists, two blocked shots and two steals in 20 minutes.

The Mocs have outscored its SoCon opponents by an average 16.3 points, defeating Mercer, Samford and ETSU who were the top three teams behind Chattanooga in the preseason poll.

Chattanooga remains at home next week to host Western Carolina Thursday at 6:30 p.m. and then UNCG in the first game of a doubleheader slated for Saturday afternoon with a 2 p.m. tip.

Tickets are on sale at the McKenzie Arena box office or online at GoMocs.com.

 

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