Lady Mocs Whip King For Third Straight Win

Abbey Cornelius Has Double-Double In 62-47 Win

  • Saturday, November 26, 2022
  • John Hunt

The college basketball season is still young and every team still has plenty of improving to do, but Chattanooga’s Lady Mocs are on a roll and won their third straight game Saturday afternoon at McKenzie Arena.

The Lady Mocs led from start to finish as they defeated the King University Tornado by a final score of 62-47. 

It will be a long stretch of games on the road as Chattanooga will play its next six games away from McKenzie, including at SEC foes Alabama on Dec. 3 and Tennessee on Dec. 6.  The next home game for the Lady Mocs will be on Thursday, December 29 when they face Jacksonville State.

First-year Chattanooga coach Shawn Poppie has high expectations for his Lady Mocs.  He sees progress on a daily basis, but there are times when it just doesn’t happen quite fast enough.

“I know it’s been a long, tough week, but I just didn’t think we played hard enough,”Poppie said in his post-game comments after his team had improved to 5-3 overall.

“It’s really nice to get out of here today with a win, but I just didn’t think we played with a lot of energy.  That’s something we work on every day and it’s getting better, but it’s a learning curve for us all.

“They all got a chance to get out and play today and that’s nice.  We’ll take tomorrow off before getting back at it on Monday, but these girls compete just as hard as they can.  And I’m really proud of our defense as it’s been pretty solid all season,” he added.

Addie Porter scored the first four points in the opening minute before King’s Rikkelle Miller hit a 3 from the key at the 6:50 mark of the first quarter.

A 10-0 run by Chattanooga extended the lead to 14-3 with 3:58 left while the difference was 18-11 when the first stanza ended.

The second quarter was even for the most part as Chattanooga enjoyed a 15-13 scoring edge for a 33-24 lead at intermission.

Senior Abbey Cornelius, one of three Chattanooga players to score in double figures, scored six of her 12 points at the start of the third quarter to put the Lady Mocs ahead 44-26 with 6:29 on the clock.

Yazz Wazeerud-Din, who led everyone with 15 points, sank a 3 at the end of the third to give the Lady Mocs a 52-34 lead with 10 minutes remaining.

Le’Aije Ellington canned a 3 from the wing and Alexa Gramann scored on a drive down the lane for the Tornado to cut the lead to 52-39, but Chattanooga ended all doubts about a comeback when they scored 10 straight points for its biggest lead at 62-41 following a baseline jumper by Cornelius with 2:26 to play.

King finished the game by scoring the final six points for the final 15-point margin of victory.

While Wazeerud-Din and Cornelius had their usual outstanding games, Porter had another good game as well as she finished with 11 points, five rebounds, seven assists and just three turnovers.

Ellington was the only player for King in double figures as she finished with 10 points.

Chattanooga enjoyed a 42-37 rebounding edge as Raven Thompson snagged a season-high 16, including 11 in the first half.  Cornelius matched her point total with a dozen rebounds.

Chattanooga’s next game is Wednesday at Georgia State.

KING  11  13  10  13  --  47

CHATTANOOGA  18  15  19  10  --  62

KING (47) – Weir 5, Gramann 6, McKinney, Dunbar 4, Allen 2, Miller 3, Ellington 10, Potts 4, Campbell, West 4, Gallegos 3, Smiley 4, Garcia 2, McCullough, Skaggs, Raseron.

CHATTANOOGA (62) – Abbey Cornelius 12, Thompson 9, Olafsdottir 6, Yazz Waeerud-Din 15, Addie Porter 11, Crouch, Davis 6, Pugh, McClendon, Hampel 3, Canter.

FIELD GOALS: King 20 of 61 for 32.8 percent; Chattanooga 23 of 62 for 37.1 percent.

3-POINT GOALS: King 3 of 19 for 15.8 percent (Dunbar 0-2, Miller 1-5, Ellington 1-3, Potts 0-3, West 0-1, Gallegos 1-2, Smiley 0-2, Garcia 0-1); Chattanooga 6 of 18 for 33.3 percent (Thompson 1-1, Olafsdottir 1-1, Wazeerud-Din 3-11, Porter 1-2, Crouch 0-1, McClendon 0-1, Hampel 0-1.)

REBOUNDS: King 37 (West 9, Smiley 4); Chattanooga 42 (Thompson 16, Cornelius 12, Porter 5).

ASSISTS: King 6 (six players with one each); Chattanooga 14 (Porter 7, Wazeerud-Din 3, Thompson 2).

TURNOVERS: King 11 (Ellington 3, Raseron 2); Chattanooga 8 (Porter 3, Cornelius 2).

STEALS: King 3 (three players with one each); Chattanooga 7 (Thompson 3, Porter 2).

BLOCKS: King 7 (Weir 3); Chattanooga 3 (Cornelius, Wazeerud-Din, Hampel).

ATTENDANCE: 1,082.

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)

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