CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women' basketball team dropped a 64-59 contest to Villanova in the finals of the DoubleTree Classic at the McKenzie Arena Saturday night. Senior Shanara Hollinquest (Sylacauga, Ga.) scored 25 points and grabbed nine boards, but was unable to lead the Lady Mocs to the win.
Villanova was led by tournament MVP Laura Sweeney's 12 points and seven rebounds. Maria Getty's 15 points and five assists tonight earned her a spot on the all-tournament team along with Hollinquest, UTC redshirt freshman Michelle Davis (Cleveland, Tenn.) and Kennesaw State's Angie Smith.
After allowing a McKenzie Arena opponent record 11 3-pointers to Kennesaw State last night, the Lady Mocs found themselves on the receiving end of another long-range barrage early in the game. Villanova hit six of their first nine from deep to run to a 20-6 lead in the first eight minutes.
The shots that didn't fall for the Wildcats wound up being long offensive rebounds. Four second-chance points put Villanova up 24-6 at the 10-minue mark.
The Lady Mocs finally got going on the offensive end, sparked by back-to-back 3-point field goals from freshman Kayla Christopher (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) and Davis. A three-point play by Christopher and a lay-in by Hollinquest cut the lead to 10, 28-18, with 7:19 left in the half.
Villanova pushed the lead back to 16 at 36-20 on a jumper by Kyle Dougherty with 2:21 left in the first. UTC would hold the Wildcats scoreless for the rest of the half, cutting the lead in half behind threes from Davis and sophomore Tenisha Townsend (Antioch, Tenn.) and a pair of free throws from Hollinquest.
The Wildcats cooled off from deep, missing their last five 3-point attempts to shoot 6-of-14 from behind the arc in the first half. They were hot from the rest of the floor, hitting 14-of-25 shots for 56.0% in the first half.
The Lady Mocs shot 10-of-30 (33.3%) from the floor and 4-for-9 (44.4%) from the behind the arc in the first frame. They were able to stay in the game by collecting nine offensive rebounds that turned into 11 second-chance points.
Chattanooga opened the second half on a tear, hitting four of its first six shots to go on a 12-4 run. UTC tied the game for the first time at 40 on a 3-pointer from the far corner by Wade-Fray that ignited the home crowd with 14:32 left.
Unfortunately for the Lady Mocs, that was as close as they would get for the rest of the game. UTC cut the lead to 47-46 on a 3-pointer by freshman Kylie Lambert (Etowah, Tenn.) with 11 minutes, but each time the Lady Mocs got close, Villanova would answer.
The Wildcats hit their last six shots from the line while UTC went 3-for-9 from the field with four turnovers in the final eight minutes of play. The Lady Mocs fall to 2-4 on the year for the first time since starting 1-5 in the 1995-96 season. Villanova improves to 4-1 with the win.
Kennesaw State 70 - Evansville 65
Kennesaw State evened its record at 3-3 with a 70-65 win over Evansville in the consolation game of the DoubleTree Classic today. The Owls were led by DeAndrea Bullock who scored a game-high 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting, 2-for-4 from 3-point range and 1-for-1 from the free throw line. KSU hit all 10 of their foul shots in the game, including five in a row in the last three minutes to earn the win. Evansville fell to 0-5 on the year.
This was a back-and-forth affair with the scored tied seven times and eight lead changes. Evansville held a 34-32 advantage at the half and were up by as many as 10 (17-7 at 14:57) early in the game. Kennesaw State outscored the Purple Aces 20-10 in the first eight minutes of the second half. Angie Smith's fast break lay-in with just under 12 minutes left to play put Kennesaw State up 52-44, their largest lead of the game.
Evansville evened the game late and actually took the lead 65-64 on a jumper by Amy Gallagher with 2:06 left. Montinique Nixon dropped in the eventual game-winner for the Owls with 56 seconds left on the clock to put KSU up 66-65. Four free throws by the Owls sealed the game.
Smith and Kayla Weaver came off the bench to score 14 points each for the Owls. KSU's bench outscored Evansville 34-18. The Purple Aces had four players in double-figures led by Stephanie Bamberger's 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting, 2-for-3 from 3-point range and 1-for-1 from the free-throw line.
DoubleTree Classic All-Tournament Team
Laura Sweeney - Villanova - MVP
Maria Getty - Villanova
Shanara Hollinquest - Chattanooga
Michelle Davis - Chattanooga
Angie Smith - Kennesaw State
The Lady Mocs travel to Samford to open the Southern Conference season on Monday, Nov. 30, at 8:00 p.m. (E.S.T.). Larry Ward, "the Voice of the Lady Mocs", will have all the action live on the Mocs Sports Network, available on ESPN Radio 105.1 FM in Chattanooga and online on Chattanooga All-Access on GoMocs.com.
UTC's next home game is set for Saturday, Dec. 5, against Furman at 5:00 p.m. That game is the first of a double-header at McKenzie Arena next weekend. The Mocs take on Elon at 7:30 p.m. in men's basketball action in the second game of the evening. Tickets for both games are available on GoMocs.com.
