University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior Jasmine Joyner (Southaven, Miss.) recorded her 11th double-double of the year and third straight to lead the Mocs to a 60-48 Southern Conference women’s basketball win at Western Carolina Saturday afternoon.
Joyner led three Mocs in double figures with 11 points and 12 rebounds. She added in three blocked shots and two assists in her 38 minutes on the floor. Junior Chelsey Shumpert (Paducah, Ky.) was 3-of-6 from beyond the arc with 11 points and three dishes and freshman Lakelyn Bouldin (Spencer, Tenn.) added in 11 points of her own with three boards.
UTC led wire-to-wire and used a 12-2 run in the third quarter to gain its largest lead of the game with 3:26 to play in the quarter.
The Mocs hit back-to-back 3-pointers to start the game and led 8-2 at the 6:31 mark.
By the end of the quarter, the lead was 18-9. The Catamounts started the second quarter on an 8-2 run and cut the Mocs’ lead to 20-17 with 7:55 to go in the half.
Chattanooga would hold Western Carolina to just two points the rest of the period and led 31-19 at intermission.
The Catamounts again started the period off with six straight in the third to make it a six point game, 31-25, with 6:38 to play in the frame. On the Mocs’ next possession, junior Keiana (Pulaski, Tenn.) hit a jumper that sparked a 12-2 run by the Mocs over the next 2:53.
On the Cats’ next trip down the court, Gilbert made a steal and her fastbreak layup put the Mocs up by double-digits, 35-25, with 6:03 to play. Joyner converted a 3-point play at the 3:26 mark of the half to give UTC its largest lead of the game, 43-27.
The lead would remain double digits the rest of the way. UTC outrebounded Western 35-21 and shot 50 percent for the game, making 24-of-48 from the field. The Mocs were 5-of-14 from beyond the arc and made 7-of-10 from the free throw line.
In the paint, UTC outscored the Cats 22-18 and had a seven points off 12 WCU turnovers. The Mocs put in 12 second chance points off nine offensive boards compared to the Catamounts’ four off four offensive rebounds. The Western Carolina bench outscored UTC’s 16-12.
Chattanooga returns home to close out the regular season with two games. The Mocs host Furman on Thursday, Feb. 23 at 6:30 p.m. and then Wofford in a double-header Saturday at 2:00 p.m. UTC will honor its four seniors after the game.