BOX SCORE
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Chattanooga posted a 68-53 win over the College of Charleston to advance to the Southern Conference Women's Basketball Championship finals for the seventh time in six years. Chattanooga improved to 28-3 overall and the Cougars close out the season at 14-16.
The Cougars jumped on the Lady Mocs early with a 6-0 run, but Chattanooga's Brooke Hand quieted the crowd with her first 3-pointer at the 17:53 mark followed by a 3-point play by Jenaya Wade-Fray that tied it up. Charleston held the Lady Mocs to just five more points over the next 4:10 to take a 15-11 lead.
“We were knocking down our shots and playing good defense early on,” College of Charleston's Nikki Williams said. “Our defense helped get our confidence up.”
That would be the last time Charleston would lead. Chattanooga's senior forward Alex Anderson (Stone Mountain, Ga.) bookended a 26-2 run that would firmly put the top-seeded Lady Mocs in front for the remainder of the game.
“We just kept getting the ball inside and if they were doubling, we were passing it out,” Anderson said. “But mainly, we were making shots and playing good defense.”
Anderson had a team-high tying 15 points and just missed a double-double with eight rebounds and had four assists.
“Alex is excellent. When she was a sophomore, she mixed in with the group,” Cougar Head Coach Nancy Wilson said. “I knew after that they could and would use her in the best way possible.”
UTC senior guard Laura Hall (Oliver Springs, Tenn.), also with a team-best 15 points, had three assists and just one turnover to go with one steal.
“Working the ball into the paint is always important. It's our game plan,” Hall said. “We have all the confidence in our posts. They make decisions very well.”
The Cougars scored the last four points of the first half and Chattanooga held a 37-21 halftime lead. The second half was a bit more evenly played as the Cougars outscored Chattanooga 32-31 in the latter stanza.
College of Charleston started the second half outscoring the Lady Mocs 6-2 before a Brooke Hand 3-pointer silenced the run to put Chattanooga back up on top 42-27 with 16:32 to play.
Shanara Holliquest went 5-for-13 on the day and was the third Chattanooga player in double figures with 12 points. Brooke Hand went 3-for-4 from beyond the arc for nine points as the Lady Mocs claimed their 23rd straight win, tied with Conference USA's UTEP who will play their conference championship game tonight.
This is Chattanooga's seventh time in the Southern Conference finals in the last eight years. They will play the winner of the #2 Western Carolina ? No. 6 Elon.
