Hollinquest Career Night Leads Lady Mocs to Sole Possession of Southern Conference Title

2/25/2008 12:00:00 AM | By: GoMocs.com

STATESBORO, Ga. -- Chattanooga sophomore forward Shanara Hollinquest (Sylacauga, Ala.) scored a career-high 31 points to lead the Lady Mocs (25-3, 17-0) to sole possession of its ninth consecutive Southern Conference title in a 79-60 win over league foe Georgia Southern at the Hanner Fieldhouse.

Hollinquest went 8-for-13 from the field and 5-for-6 at the charity stripe in the first half hitting her career mark 21 points with 6:44 to play in the period. She would make four more from the field and a pair of free throws in the latter half for her game-high 31 points to go along with seven rebounds.

Chattanooga would get on the board first with a pair of layups from Hollinquest and senior forward Alex Anderson (Stone Mountain, Ga.) before the Lady Eagles would bounce back to tie the game 4-4 at the 15:55 mark. Georgia Southern tied the contest two more times before Chattanooga would pull away with a 22-7 run to lead 31-16 with 6:03 to play. Chattanooga's lead would never dip below double digits the remainder of the game.

Hollinquest drained two free throws with 43 seconds to play in the first half to give the Lady Mocs their largest lead of the half at 40-23. Laura Hall was 3-for-5 in the first with a pair of 3-pointers and was 2-for-2 from the free throw line for 10 points by the half. Chattanooga led 40-25 at half time.

In the second half, the Lady Eagles cut the lead to 11 four times. Ashley Melson scored all eight of her second half points in the first 7:32 of the period to get the score to within 11 three times.

Junior forward Erin Ogan (Knoxville, Tenn) hit two key 3-pointers from the top of the key to cap a 12-2 run that put the Lady Mocs up 62-41 with 8:05 to play in the game. Senior guard Amy Mohr (Cumming, Ga.) hit a pair of crucial treys to give the Lady Mocs their largest lead of the game 76-47 before the Lady Eagles mounted a 10-0 run to cut the lead to 19 at 76-57.

Chattanooga shot a scorching 65.2 percent (15-of-23) in the second half for a game effort 30-of-55 for a 54.5 percent mark. The Lady Mocs held Georgia Southern to just 39 percent for the game to run their nation's-best win streak to 20 games. The Lady Mocs were 8-of-13 (.615) from the 3-point line making 5-of-6 in the second half for its best effort from beyond the arc. Over its last two games, Chattanooga is 15-of-27 from the perimeter.

Chattanooga protected the ball Monday night committing just 10 turnovers. UTC scored 17 points off 12 Lady Eagle turnovers but GSU had 17 second chance points on 17 offensive boards. Georgia Southern outrebounded Chattanooga 36-33.

Anderson had 14 points making 6-of-10 and a pair of free throws and Hall would end the game with 12 points. Ogan had a game-high nine rebounds and five assists to go along with six points. Mohr and sophomore guard Tagan Hatchett (Acworth, Ga.) each hit a pair of 3-pointers for six points.

Melson and Jessica Geiger each had a team-high 12 points for the Lady Eagles and J'Lisa Ogburn was the third Georgia Southern player in double figures with 10 points. Melson and Shawnda Atwood each pulled down six boards.

The Lady Mocs will close out the season with Western Carolina at 7 p.m. Thursday night at the McKenzie Arena. It will be the final game for Chattanooga seniors Alex Anderson, Laura Hall, Brooke Hand, Amy Mohr and Kristen Spann. The quintet will be honored prior to the game as the Lady Mocs look to end the year with a perfect league mark for the third time in five years.