KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The Chattanooga women's basketball team fell 76-56 to No. 1 ranked Tennessee Sunday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena before a crowd of 13,811.
Chattanooga trailed the Lady Vols 32-28 at the break and Tennessee pulled away by as much as nine points, but Laura Hall scored nine straight to start the second half to get the Lady Mocs to within two at 39-37 at the 16:53 mark. However, Tennessee forced four straight turnovers after the 16 minute media timeout and put the lead into double digits at 48-37 a minute-and-a-half later. The Lady Mocs would only get as close as seven points for the remainder of the game.
Hall tallied her points on a pair of fast break layups, a jumper and a trio of free throws and led the Lady Mocs with 15 points, five rebounds and four assists. Alex Anderson was stymied down low in the first half, but Shanara Hollinquest stepped up her offense and went 4-for-5 from the floor with a free throw for nine points at the half. She closed out the game with 13 points and five rebounds as the only other Chattanooga player in double digits.
The Lady Mocs were 8-of-22 from the 3-point line with Jenaya Wade-Fray sinking three for the second straight game. Tennessee was 4-for-13 from beyond the arc and shot 46.5 percent on the day. The Lady Vols held a slim 39-34 margin on the boards and took advantage of 32 Chattanooga turnovers but only scored 21 points off the miscues. UTC scored 16 points off 18 Tennessee mistakes but only shot 21-for-54 (38.9%) from the floor for the day.
Candace Parker had a game-high 23 points, but managed just eight in the first half making 3-of-10 from the floor and 2-of-4 from the free throw line. She had seven rebounds on the day and was 2-for-2 from the 3-point line. Vicki Baugh went 5-for-6 and was the only other Lady Vol in double digits with 11 points and Nicky Anosike had a game-best 10 rebounds, just missing a double-double with nine points.
Chattanooga will host Clemson Saturday, Nov. 17 at the McKenzie Arena at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are on sale at the McKenzie Arena box office at 266-MOCS (6627). Larry Ward will have all the action live on the flagship station of the Lady Mocs, Ruby-AM WDOD 1310 or online around the world at the official website of UTC athletics, GoMocs.com.
