The Chattanooga women’s basketball team fell 71-56 at South Dakota State Wednesday night at Frost Arena in non-conference action.
"There were a lot of good things today, but we just can't put four quarters together,” Chattanooga head coach Katie Burrows said. “We have to learn how to do that in order to pull out these wins. That is a very good team right there and we hung with them for three quarters."
The Mocs bounced back from an early deficit to take the lead on a 9-0 run late in the first quarter.
Sophomore transfer Ruona Uwusiaba started it off with a free throw then senior Lakelyn Bouldin and freshman Dena Jarrells drained back-to-back 3-pointers to get to within a point, 14-13 with 54 seconds on the clock. Sophomore Eboni Williams got a block on the defensive end and then finished it off with a jumper on the offensive end to give Chattanooga its first lead of the game.
The Jackrabbits ended the frame with a buzzer beating layup to retake the lead.
It would not last long. Jarrells knocked down her second 3-pointer to put the Mocs back out front. The lead changed six times in the period and saw two ties before Tagyn Larson scored the final five points of the period for the Jackrabbits to help her team to a 31-27 halftime lead.
South Dakota State pushed its lead to 36-29 to start the third quarter, but the Mocs fought back to make it 36-34 behind a Williams’ layup and the second of three 3-pointers from Bria Dial who had nine points in the game. However, a 17-4 run by the Jacks over the rest of the frame made it 53-38 heading into the final quarter.
Chattanooga matched up with the Jacks in the fourth with each scoring 18 points. SDSU started the final period with a 3-pointer, but that did not deter the Mocs who responded with five straight points to make it 56-45 with 6:48 to play. The teams traded baskets the rest of the way.
Williams had 11 points and eight rebounds to pace the Mocs. She added two blocked shots and a pair of assists. Lakelyn Bouldin reached her 200th career 3-pointer Wednesday on her shot midway through the fourth quarter. She added 10 points for Chattanooga with three rebounds and three assists.
Dial had nine points and was 3-of-4 from the 3-point line. Abbey Cornelius chipped in seven points and had five rebounds and Jarrells was 2-of-4 from beyond the arc for six points.
"We did a better job today of taking care of the ball,” Burrows said. “We still had 13 turnovers, but most of those happened when were are playing too fast or just picking up our dribble and not having anything to do with it."
The Mocs will return home for the first time in December for a double header with the men’s team. Both will host Troy. The women’s game will tip off at 1:30 p.m. followed by the men’s game at 4:00 p.m. Tickets are on sale at the McKenzie Arena box office and online at GoMocs.com. Bring a new or gently used coat to the game to get a buy-one-get-one free ticket.