CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? Chattanooga senior forward Alex Anderson (Stone Mountain, Ga.) scored a game-high 15 points despite playing just 11 minutes to lead the Lady Mocs (14-3, 6-0) to a 77-50 Southern Conference win over UNC Greensboro (3-14, 1-5) on Autograph Night at the McKenzie Arena. The win is Chattanooga's ninth consecutive and 10 straight in the conference regular season play.
The Lady Mocs hit five 3-pointers to start the game and got off to a 24-4 run over the first 7:51 of the game. Chattanooga extended its lead to 39-15 with just less than five minutes to play and carried a 49-22 advantage into halftime. Anderson had seven points in the first half despite playing just four minutes after getting hit with two early fouls.
An offensive spurt and defensive stand at the beginning of the second half pulled the Spartans to within 52-28 in the first four minutes before Anderson took over, scoring eight straight points for the Lady Mocs to make the score 60-30 with 13:34 remaining in the game. After a brief rally by UNCG, Chattanooga did not allow the Spartans within 27 points the rest of the way as they closed out the 77-50 win for their ninth straight victory.
In addition to Anderson's 15 points, Brooke Hand (Moulton, Ala.) contributed 11 points as the only other double-figure scorer for Chattanooga hitting three 3-pointers in the first half. Junior guard LaCondra Mason (Chattanooga, Tenn.), junior forward Erin Ogan (Knoxville, Tenn.) and sophomore forward Shanara Hollinquest (Sylacauga, Ala.) each added eight points and five rebounds.
Senior forward Kristen Spann (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) added seven points and a game-high seven rebounds while sophomore guard Jenaya Wade-Fray (Madison, Ala.) contributed a solid all-around game with seven points, a game-high six assists and four rebounds to go along with two steals.
For the Spartans, junior forward Gini Grimsley led the way with 14 points on the night while sophomore guard Lakiah Hyson finished the evening with nine points. Freshman guard Monique Floyd added a team-high three assists.
Chattanooga won the battle of the boards 40-35 and scored 24 points off 20 Spartan miscues. The Lady Mocs shot a sparkling 53.1 percent (17-of-32) in the first half and got 29 points from the bench. UNCG's bench scored 33 points.
The Lady Mocs will travel to Greenville for its second matchup with Furman. The game will tip at 2:30 p.m. and be aired Sunday, Jan. 20 at 12:30 on CSS in a tape-delayed broadcast. Larry Ward, the “Voice of the Lady Mocs” will have all the action live on the flagship station of the Lady Mocs, WDOD-AM 1310. The game can be heard live around the world on the official website of UTC athletics, GoMocs.com.
