Deandra Schirmer could finally take a deep breath and relax for the first time on Monday night after her Chattanooga women rewarded the new coach her first win as their basketball coach.
It wasn’t pretty by any stretch and there are plenty of things to fix and to improve on, but style points don’t count when determining the outcome of college basketball games and Schirmer was happy to head home with a 66-49 victory over the Shorter University Hawks in front of a crowd of 1,374 at McKenzie Arena.
“I think we let their pressure dictate the pace of the game at the start and we were certainly off offensively, but our defense responded and helped us turn things around,” Schirmer said following the game.
“Defense will be our calling card this season and I’m really happy with the adjustments we made. I think it’s normal to be nervous and I was for sure, but I had total trust in these girls. It was an ugly game with 18 turnovers, but we got a 17-point win, so I’m proud of the adjustments we were able to make on the fly,” she added after increasing her career record to 115-31 that included the last six years at Valdosta State.
Derrica McCall scored eight of her game-high 17 points in the first three minutes of the game as the Hawks had a 10-3 lead with 7:12 left in the opening stanza. Chattanooga then responded with a 10-0 run for a 13-10 lead following two free throws by Brooke Anya with 3:55 showing, but the Hawks then scored the final eight points for an 18-13 lead when the first quarter ended.
The second quarter was a totally different outcome.
Tori Smiley canned a jumper from the line to start the second stanza for a 20-13 Shorter lead, but a free throw by Tiara Lewis almost eight minutes later was the only other point the Hawks would score as Chattanooga had a 27-21 lead at the break.
The Mocs were still stone cold from the field as they made 10 of 30 shots from the field and just three of 16 from long range, but defense and a 26-14 rebounding edge were the difference as the Hawks never regained the advantage.
A left-handed layup by Karsen Murphy with 7:17 left in the third put Chattanooga up 31-25, but the Hawks then went on an 8-2 run to knot the score at 33 following a short bank shot by Amya Patterson.
The Mocs then finished the quarter on an 11-0 run for a 44-33 lead with one quarter remaining and it never got any closer.
Murphy finished the game as the scoring leader for Chattanooga with 16 points while Sigrun Olafsdottir and Caia Elisaldez were also in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively. McCall led Shorter with 17 points while Smiley added 15 and Patterson nine.
The road doesn’t get any easier as Chattanooga will be at home again on Thursday to face Tennessee Tech with a 6 p.m. tip.
SHORTER 18 3 12 16 -- 49
CHATTANOOGA 13 14 17 22 -- 66
SHORTER (49) – Patterson 9, Lewis 3, Baker 1, Tori Smiley 15, Derrica McCall 17, Grant, Brooks 4, Redus, Phillips, LeGrier, Washington.
CHATTANOOGA (66) – Davis 6, Corbitt 6, Karsen Murphy 16, Sigrun Olafsdottir 11, Caia Elisaldez 10, Card 2, Farrell, Anya 6, McPherson 9.
FIELD GOALS: Shorter 18 of 44 for 40.9 percent; Chattanooga 25 of 60 for 41.7 percent;
THREE-POINT GOALS: Shorter 7 of 16 for 43.8 percent (Patterson 1-3, Smiley 2-5, McCall 4-6, Grant 0-2); Chattanooga 9 of 30 for 30.0 percent (Corbitt 0-5, Murphy 4-7, Olafsdottir 3-10, Elisaldez 0-2, Card 0-1, McPherson 2-5);
FREE THROWS: Shorter 6 of 12 for 50 percent; Chattanooga 7 of 12 for 58.3 percent;
REBOUNDS: Shorter 23 (Lewis 5, McCall 5); Chattanooga 40 (Corbitt 11, Davis 7, Elisaldez 5);
ASSISTS: Shorter 11 (Lewis 4, McCall 3); Chattanooga 15 (Olafsdottir 4, Elisaldez 3, Corbitt, Murphy and McPherson 2 each);
TURNOVERS: Shorter 19 (Grant 4, Smiley 3); Chattanooga 18 (Corbitt 4, Murphy 3);
STEALS: Shorter 7 (Smiley 3); Chattanooga 8 (Elisaldez 3, McPherson 2);
BLOCKS: Shorter 4 (Patterson 3); Chattanooga 1 (McPherson);
ATTENDANCE: 1,374.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)