CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- The Lady Mocs fell 80-53 to Louisville Saturday night in the Championship Game of the 2007 Panera Bread Challenge at the McKenzie Arena.
Tournament MVP, Angel McCoughtry, bookended a 30-2 run that turned a one-point Chattanooga lead into a 27-point deficit for the host team over a 10:30 period in the second frame. Laura Hall hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give the Lady Mocs their last lead of the game at 46-45 with 14:01 to play. It would be more than six-and-a-half minutes before UTC would score again.
McCoughtry scored 15 of the 30 Cardinal points in the run to finish with a game-high 26 on 10-of-15 from the floor. She had a team-best six rebounds and 10 steals with a pair of assists in 27 minutes. Chauntise Wright went 7-for-9 for 14 points as the only other Louisville player in double digits.
Brooke Hand found her shot early in the game making back-to-back 3-pointers to start the game. She had five in the first half and ended with six on 15 attempts for a team0high 18 points. Alex Anderson had 11 points and seven rebounds for the Lady Mocs while Erin Ogan hit the double-digit mark with 10 points. Laura Hall, with 11 assists, nearly tied her career-high mark of 12.
Chattanooga jumped out to an early 13-4 lead as the 3-pointers were falling early, but saw that slip away when Louisville scored 11 straight points to take a 15-13 lead three minutes later. The Cardinals advantage would climb as high as 10 points, but the Lady Mocs battled back into the contest with a 17-7 run to close out the final 5:19 of the half.
Hand hit three of her treys in the run and Jenaya Wade-Fray drained her second at the buzzer to tie the game at 35-35 at halftime. The Lady Mocs found the perimeter shot making 13 three-pointers on the night, nine in the first half, after making just four last night.
Louisville outrebounded the Lady Mocs 38-28 and shot 57.9 percent for the game.
Chattanooga will host Middle Tennessee on Wednesday, Nov. 28 at 6 p.m., in the first half of a doubleheader as the men will take on East Tennessee immediately following. Call the McKenzie Arena box office at 423-266-6627 or go online to avoid the line at the official website of UTC athletics at www.GoMocs.com.
All-Tournament Team
Delaware ? Vanessa Kabongo
Murray State ? Amber Guffey
Chattanooga ? Alex Anderson, Brooke Hand
Louisville ? Candyce Bingham
Tournament MVP
Louisville, Angel McCoughtry
