There hasn’t been a whole lot to cheer about concerning Chattanooga’s Lady Mocs basketball so far this season, but they made everyone at McKenzie Arena Thursday night happy as they headed for home following a tough SoCon win.
Playing perhaps their best game of the year, the Lady Mocs improved their Southern Conference record to 2-1 with the 80-76 victory over the Wofford Terriors in front of an announced crowd of 1,392 college basketball fans.
Chattanooga has played well in spurts, but there was always one area that came up short as they had lost 14 of 16 games before Thursday’s contest.
They finally put it all together and were rewarded for their effort.
“We just had to finish and that’s what we did tonight,” said an obviously happy Chattanooga coach Katie Burrows following the game.
“We had to punch them in the mouth to get started, but we shot the ball extremely well tonight and we haven’t done that all season. It puts so much pressure on the other team when we shoot it well, but this team has come a long way since our first game.
“Wofford isn’t a bad team and it seems like they capitalized on every one of our mistakes, but I’m just proud that we didn’t quit. It’s been a battle all year, but winning a close one like this only gives us confidence. We’ll get to enjoy this one for a few minutes because we have another tough game with Furman here Saturday afternoon,” Burrows added.
Wofford coach Jimmy Garrity didn’t make excuses, but quickly gave credit where credit was due.
“Give Chattanooga a lot of credit because they shot the ball extremely well. It’s almost impossible to win on the road when the other team shoots 60 percent,” he began outside the Terriors dressing room.
“We were down early, but we never quit. We got the shot we wanted at the end, but it just didn’t fall. Sometimes games go like that,” he added.
Eboni Williams, who finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds, sank two free throws with 54.5 seconds to play to put Chattanooga ahead, 78-69.
Things were looking good at that point, but Wofford wasn’t finished.
Cairo Booker scored on a layup with 18 seconds left to make it 78-71. Da’Ja Green was fouled on a three-point shot with 12 seconds left and made the first two. Chloe Wanink bagged a 3 from the wing after rebounding the missed third attempt with 9.1 seconds left.
The Lady Mocs called a timeout before a five-second call was made on the inbounds play, but the Terriors got the ball when Chattanooga couldn’t get the ball in on the second attempt.
Green, the pre-season SoCon Player of the Year, got the ball on the inbounds play and drove down the lane for what could have been the tying shot, but her layup attempt would not go in.
Abbey Cornelius grabbed the rebound and was fouled, making both free throws with 1.2 seconds for the final four-point margin.
Chattanooga opened the game with nine-straight points and had an 18-15 lead when the first qurter ended.
Back-to-back 3s from Pare Pene and Bria Dial gave the Lady Mocs their biggest lead of the first half at 36-21 with 2:30 showing before the Terriors finished the quarter on a 10-point run to only trail by five at intermission.
Wanink had a pair of 3s to open the second half to give Wofford its first lead at 37-36 with 9:10 left in the third, but the Lady Mocs responded with a 14-2 run over the next four minutes for a 50-39 edge with 5:02 on the clock.
Lilly Hatton’s 15-footer from the baseline got Wofford within three at 57-54 with one quarter remaining.
The Terriors never regained the lead after getting within two twice, but the Lady Mocs were able to keep their composure and hit key free throws in the final stanza to secure the win.
Dial didn’t miss a shot the entire game and finished with 23 points to lead Chattanooga’s win. The six-foot junior from Murfreesboro hit all seven of her shots from the field, including five of five from 3-point range and four straight at the charity stripe.
Cornelius was next with 16 while Williams had 15 and Nakeia Burks 10.
Wanink had 20 points to lead Wofford, now 8-10 overall and 1-2 in conference play.
Green followed with 15 while Hatton and Booker both finished with 11.
Williams had 15 rebounds and Burks seven as Chattanooga enjoyed a 36-24 rebounding advantage. Hatton topped Wofford with seven.
While Chattanooga will be home again on Saturday for a 2 p.m. game with Furman, Wofford will travel to Johnson City for a game with East Tennessee State.
WOFFORD 15 16 23 22 -- 76
CHATTANOOGA 18 18 21 23 -- 80
WOFFORD (76) – McDavid 2, Hatton 11, Wanink 20, Booker 11, Green 15, Lutz 3, Cook 7, Tomlin, Harris 4, Turner 3.
CHATTANOOGA (80) – Williams 15, Cornelius 16, Dial 23, Burks 10, Bouldin 7, Searcy 6, Pene 3, Jarrells, Uwusiaba.
FIELD GOALS: Furman 28 of 67 for 41.8 percent; Chattanooga 28 of 47 for 59.6 percent.
3-POINT GOALS: Furman 12 of 27 for 44.4 percent (Hatton 1-4, Wanink 6-9, Booker 0-1, Green 3-8, Lutz 1-2, Cook 1-3); Chattanooga 8 of 14 for 57.1 percent (Williams 1-1, Cornelius 1-2, Dial 5-5, Burks 0-1, Bouldin 0-3, Pene 1-2).16 of 20 for 80 percent.
FREE THROWS: Wofford 8 of 10 for 80 percent; Chattanooga
REBOUNDS: Wofford 24 (Hatton 7, Cook 4); Chattanooga 36 (Williams 15, Burks 7).
TURNOVERS: Wofford 6 (Hatton 2); Chattanooga 14 (Burks 3, Bouldin 3).
ASSISTS: Wofford 14 (Green 9, Booker 2); Chattanooga 15 (Burks 6, Bouldin 4).
STEALS: Wofford 5 (Cook 2); Chattanooga 2 (Williams, Pene).
ATTENDANCE: 1,392.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)