BOX SCORE AND PLAY-BY-PLAY
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- In front of 7,008 fans, the Lady Mocs stood toe-to-toe with the Tennessee Lady Vols but faltered at the end, falling 66-63 Friday night at the McKenzie Arena.
The Lady Mocs drained five of their nine 3-pointers in a 19-1 run sparked by junior Jenaya Wade Fray's trey at the 13:35 mark of the second half. Sophomore Bailey Dewart drained three of her career-best four 3-pointers in the run capping it off with 8:08 to play to give Chattanooga its largest lead of the game at 58-50.
The Lady Vols got a free throw from Glory Johnson and a layup from Shekinna Stricklen to get within five, but Megan Rollins nailed a 3 to push the lead back to eight. Seven unanswered points on a trio of layups and a free throw by Tennessee, cut into Chattanooga's lead and make it 61-60 with 4:11 to play. Junior Shanara Hollinquest put the lead back up to three at 63-60 with 3:24 to play, but Chattanooga would not score again the remainder of the game, getting outscored 16-5 down the stretch.
Foul trouble would get the better of the Lady Mocs who were whistled for 30 fouls to the Lady Vols 20. UTK struggled at the line making just 23-of-43 attempts while Chattanooga put on a show from the charity stripe making 16-of-17. Hollinquest and senior Erin Ogan each fouled out in the final minute of the game for Chattanooga.
The Lady Vols tied the game 63-63 on a wide-open 3 from Alicia Manning in front of the UTK bench. Dewart's jumper was blocked by Vicki Baugh and recovered by Glory Johnson. Baugh was fouled by Hollinquest with 52 seconds remaining to send her to the bench. Baugh missed the front end of her two free throws, but made the second to give UT its final lead.
The Lady Mocs missed a pair of jumpers that would have put them on top and Ogan fouled out on the Tennessee end of the court with five seconds to play. Baugh missed both of her free throws, but a misstep by transfer Rollins put the ball back into UTK's hands at the end of the game.
Following a UTC time out, Rollins, with the ball out of bounds, called a time-out when she couldn't find the open player to avoid a five-second call. However, Chattanooga did not have a timeout in their pocket and a technical took the ball away from the Lady Mocs with just a few ticks to play.
Cait McMahan made the first of her two free throws and a foul by Wade-Fray put Shekinna Stricklen at the line with 2.6 seconds on the clock. She made the first of her two shots but missed her second and time ran out as both teams fought for the rebound.
The Lady Mocs outdid UTK from the perimeter sinking 9-of-23 from 3-point land. Hollinquest made Chattanooga's first 3-pointer of the game ? her first-ever that counted ? with 2:40 to play in the first half. The Lady Mocs got treys from six different players for the second time in two games while Tennessee got one trey on 11 attempts. Hollinquest made 3-pointer against Lee University earlier this year, but that was in an exhibition game.
Chattanooga's bench again proved to be productive with a 30-point effort led by Dewart's career-high 12 points on four 3-pointers. Hollinquest posted her second double-double of the season with a team-best 17 points and 11 rebounds. Rollins chipped in seven points for the Lady Mocs and Townsend grabbed a career-best seven boards.
Glory Johnson had a game-high 19 points and 13 rebounds for the Lady Vols while Alyssia Brewer was the only other UT player in double digits with 10 points. Shekinna Stricklen had nine points and seven boards for the Lady Vols while Cait McMahan, Amber Gray and Alicia Manning each chipped in seven.
The Lady Vols outrebounded Chattanooga 45-39 while the Lady Mocs dished out 14 assists led by Ogan's four. Tenisha Townsend, who started at the point for UTC had three as did Dewart.
NOTES:
Tennessee redshirt freshman Kelley Cain did not make the trip to Chattanooga while still recovering from a knock to the head. Sophomore Angie Bjorklund did not play while resting her back.
For the second time in two games, the Lady Mocs had six different players made at least one three-pointer.
Anelia Murray: Career-high six points
Tenisha Townsend: Career-high seven rebounds
Bailey Dewart: Career-high 12 points
Career-high four 3-pointers
Shanara Hollinquest: Second double-double of season (two games)
Andrea Neil: Career-high five points
Megan Rollins: Career-high seven points, two rebounds
