The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team came away with a 71-51 victory Saturday at the McKenzie Arena for its first win of the season. Chattanooga is now 1-3 on the year and Presbyterian moves to 1-3 overall.
“We played better,” Chattanooga head coach Jim Foster said. “That’s what’s important. We worked harder, we were tougher and we shared the ball. Forty minute effort. We haven’t had that. We had to learn how to do that and some good things happened.”
Chattanooga led the entire game and closed out the game with its largest lead.
Sophomore Lakelyn Bouldin scored a career-high 21 points making 4-of-7 from the 3-point line.
“I have to thank my teammates,” Bouldin said. “They found me. I’ve not been playing well so this was a step to getting better.”
She scored 10 of her game-high points in the fourth quarter making two shots, including a 3-pointer, and was 5-of-6 from the free throw line. She added four rebounds and a career-best three steals to her stat line.
Senior Aryanna Gilbert scored in double figures for the fourth straight game with a season-high 16 points, making 8-of-13. She matched her career-high for steals with four and had three assists. Senior Keiana Gilbert dished out five assists and matched her career-best with four blocked shots. She had seven points and four rebounds.
Junior Molly Melton was 2-of-4 from the 3-point line for a career-high six points and six rebounds and played all 40 minutes.
“Molly earned her opportunity,” Foster said. “You don’t get handed things.”
“Molly dogs the ball,” Aryanna Gilbert said. “She makes it a point to go out there and disrupt the other team’s point guard. She did a great job on her today.”
Chattanooga led 30-16 at the half and outscored Presbyterian 41-35 in the second half, shooting 52 percent in the half. UTC outscored the Blue Hose 34-18 in the paint and converted 20 turnovers into 17 points. On the boards the Mocs held a 37-27 advantage and scored 10 points off 13 offensive rebounds.
Chattanooga held a 17-11 lead after 10 minutes and pushed the lead to double digits in the second quarter. Melton drained a 3-pointer at the 6:17 mark of the frame, sparking a 12-2 run to give the Mocs a 30-16 halftime lead.
The third quarter was played even with each team getting 17 points. Four of Presbyterian’s five shots were from beyond the arc and they made all three free throw attempts. UTC was 6-of-11 in the period with a pair of 3-pointers and connected on all three from the charity stripe.
Chattanooga maintained its double digit lead throughout the fourth quarter, not letting Presbyterian get any closer than 12 points. Bouldin made both free throws in the final minute to give the Mocs their largest and final lead of the game, 71-51 with 48 seconds to play.
Janie Miles led the Blue Hose with 17 points, making 5-of-9 from beyond the arc and Cortney Storey had 14 points, six rebounds and eight assists with five turnovers. Kiara Jackson had six points and a team-high seven rebounds in her 16 minutes on the court.
Presbyterian shot 37.5 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from the free throw line. UTC shot 44.6 percent on the day and was 7-of-16 from long range. The Mocs made 14-of-17 from the free throw line.
Chattanooga will return to the road for its next four games this week. UTC will take on Indiana Monday night at Assembly Hall in Bloomington before heading to Nashville for the Challenge in Music City over the Thanksgiving weekend.