CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team fought off a solid first-half effort from visiting Wofford to post an 89-71 win tonight. The Lady Mocs improve to 4-5 on the year and are now 2-1 in Southern Conference action. Wofford falls to 1-7 overall and 0-3 in SoCon play.
Wofford, who was winless in their previous 13 trips to Chattanooga, did not look like a team that had never won in the McKenzie Arena in the opening minutes of the game. The Terriers hit eight of their first 12 shots and led much of the first half. Kelly Dwyer dropped in a jumper at the 14:01 mark to put the Terriers up 16-10 for their largest lead.
While Wofford was rolling, the Lady Mocs were struggling on offense without leading scorer Shanara Hollinquest (Sylacauga, Ala.). The senior forward was sent to the bench less than five minutes into the game with a pair of quick fouls. She came into the game leading the Southern Conference in scoring at 20.8 ppg, but did not return for the rest of the first half.
Chattanooga started the game hitting just five of its first 15 shots from the field and one of its first eight from behind the 3-point line. With Hollinquest out, senior Jenaya Wade-Fray (Madison, Ala.) stepped up with 11 first half points. She had back-to-back steals and layups to give UTC a 34-32 lead with just over three minutes left in the half. She shot 5-of-8 from the field and had two assists and two steals in the first period.
Wofford grabbed the lead back 40-39 on a layup by Natalie Gramblin with less 40 seconds left. Freshman Kayla Christopher (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) put UTC back on top 41-40 with a layup at the end of the half. After the slow start, Chattanooga made 10 of their final 17 attempts to grab the halftime lead.
The Lady Mocs used a 10-2 spurt to take control of the game. Senior Megan Rollins (Monteagle, Tenn.) scored five points in the run, including a three from the far corner to put UTC up 51-42 at the 15:50 mark.
Hollinquest was held to just eight points on 4-of-7 shooting in the game. It is just the third time since her sophomore season that she has not reached double figures. Despite the low output from their leading scorer, the Lady Mocs did get season highs in scoring from six different players.
Sophomore Kori Penland's (Chickamauga, Ga.) 3-pointer with 9:23 left in the game gave the Lady Mocs a 17-point lead at 69-52 and erased any hope of a Wofford comeback.
Wade-Fray led UTC with a season-high 18 points and a career-high five steals. She shot 7-of-14 from the floor and was 3-for-6 from 3-point range to go with four rebounds. Penland was one point shy of a career-high with 14 points. She was 3-of-6 from the field, 2-for-3 from 3-point range and 6-for-6 from the foul line, a career-best.
Christopher also reached double figures, tying her season-high with 13 points. Fellow freshman Michelle Davis (Cleveland, Tenn.) had a season-high 17 points and tied her season best with eight boards. Rollins added a season-high nine points while freshman Erin Helton (Cookeville, Tenn.) tied her season-high with seven points.
Wofford was led by Mahagony Williams 18 points and eight rebounds and Gramblin's 10 points in the game.
The Lady Mocs are back in action on Saturday, Dec. 12 when they host ACC foe Clemson. Game time is set for 5:00 p.m. (E.S.T.) in the McKenzie Arena following the men's basketball game against Mississippi Valley State at 2:00 p.m. If you can't make it to the game, be sure to listen to Larry Ward, the "Voice of the Lady Mocs," provide play-by-play action on ESPN Radio 105.1 FM. Live stats, audio and video are also available on GoMocs.com.
