BOX SCORE AND PLAY-BY-PLAY
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- In its final contest of 2008, the Chattanooga women's basketball team ran its Southern Conference win streak to 27 games with a 70-53 win over UNC Greensboro on Wednesday afternoon. The win improves the Lady Mocs record to 9-5 and keeps its perfect conference record intact at 5-0. The Spartans fall to 6-8 and 3-2 with the loss.
In the win the Lady Mocs shot 43.4 percent, going 23-of-53 from the field. The team was also effective from the three-point line, shooting 8-of-18 (44.4 percent) from beyond the arc.
Chattanooga was led by junior Jenaya Wade-Fray in the win with a season and game-high 18 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field. The junior was solid from behind the three-point and free-throw lines in the contest, going 3-of-4 from beyond the arc and 7-of-8 from the charity stripe.
“When Jenaya's playing well it definitely helps this team,” Lady Mocs Head Coach Wes Moore said. “We put her on the other team's best player and she did a good job on Lakiah Hyson today. She's a very talented player and we need her to be consistent.”
Junior Shanara Hollinquist was the only other Lady Moc to score in double figures with 13. Hollinquist has scored in double figures five straight games, and has reached the double-digit point mark in 13 of the Lady Mocs' 14 games overall this season. Senior Erin Ogan just missed a double-double with nine points and a game-high 10 boards.
Senior LaCondra Mason had nine points in the win, and sophomore Bailey Dewart, with a pair of 3-pointers, finished with eight. Gini Grimsley led the Spartans with 17 points and was the only UNCG player in double figures.
The Lady Mocs trailed for a mere 1:55 in the contest as the Spartans scored the game's opening points on a Grimsley jumper. The Lady Mocs responed with a basket from Ogan at the 18:05 would knot the score at two, and from there the Lady Mocs would slowly build a lead to end the half up 37-24.
In the second half UTC would continue to pull away from UNCG as the team led 49-30 with 14:25 to play in the game. The lead would get as big as 29 with 4:40 to play on a 3-pointer from Dewart give Chattanooga a 70-41 in lead.
At halftime, the Lady Mocs honored Alex Anderson as one of Wes Moore's top 10 players in the “Moore in McKenzie, a Decade of Dominance” series. Anderson was drafted by the San Antonio Silver Stars and is currently playing for Hapotel Tel-Aviv in Israel. She averages 20.6 points per game and leads the team with 9.5 rebounds per contest.
The Lady Mocs will return to the court on Jan.3 as the team resumes its Southern Conference schedule with a 3 p.m. doubleheader contest in Statesboro, Ga., against Georgia Southern. The UTC men will face the Eagles in the ensuing game. The last time the two teams had a road doubleheader was Jan. 14, 2006 at Western Carolina.
Listen to Larry Ward with all the action live on WDOD-AM 1310 or online around the world at the official website of UTC athletics, GoMocs.com.
