The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team held Lafayette to just 11 second half points and breezed to a 68-43 win over Lafayette in the opening game of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Challenge Saturday afternoon at the KFC Yum! Center.
The Mocs used a 20-4 third quarter run to pull away from Lafayette who had closed the gap to five points at the end of the second quarter. Anna Ptasinski led a 14-2 run for the Leopards who trailed the Mocs 37-32 at the half.
"It's an understanding and recognition of what's going on and making adjustments," Chattanooga head coach Jim Foster said of the difference.
"We played a lot of people which means different people were in a different position to defend that."
In the fourth, UTC allowed just seven points to Lafayette who shot 35.2 percent for the game. Chattanooga was 27-of-65 (41.5%) from the field and 8-of-25 from beyond the arc.
Junior Chelsey Shumpert (Paducah, Ky.) led the Mocs (2-2) with 15 points, making 5-of-six from the field and three from beyond the arc, placing her tied for 10th all-time at UTC for 3-pointers made. She added four rebounds and three assists in the win.
Senior Jasmine Joyner (Southaven, Miss.) just missed a double-double with nine points and a season-high 10 rebounds. Junior Keiana Gilbert (Pulaski, Tenn.) was the only other UTC player in double figures with all 13 seeing action. Gilbert was 5-of-9 with a pair of three's for 12 points and five boards.
The Mocs outscored Lafayette 32-22 in the paint and 9-6 off turnovers, forcing the Leopards into 16 on the day. UTC snared 45 rebounds, outdueling their opponent by 14 and had a 12-5 advantage on second chance points. The Mocs bench produced 17 points led by senior Sydney Vanlandingham's (Gallatin, Tenn.) seven points and five rebounds.
Chattanooga began the game on a 9-0 run with scoring from three different players. Lafayette cut the lead to 11-8 with 2:52 to play in the opening quarter on a jumper from Anna Ptasinski who had a game-high 19 points. UTC responded with an 8-2 run to close out the quarter and led 19-10 after 10 minutes.
Lafayette took over the second quarter after the Mocs bumped its lead out to 35-18 with 3:32 to go in the frame. Ptsanski had nine of the Leopard's 14 points in the final 3:16, outscoring UTC 22-18 in the second and cut the lead to 37-32 at intermission.
Freshman Lakelyn Bouldin (Spencer, Tenn.) had eight points and four rebounds in her first collegiate start. Junior Aryanna Gilbert (Pulaski, Tenn.) added six points and senior Moses Johnson (Atlanta, Ga.) had four assists.
Chattanooga will take on Bowling Green Sunday afternoon in the third game of the Challenge. Tip will be at 2 p.m. at the KFC Yum! Center. Live scoring and audio will be available at GoMocs.com. Larry Ward will have the call live on 96.1 FM The Legend, Chattanooga's flagship station.