CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team scored a big 64-53 win over league-leading College of Charleston at the McKenzie Arena Saturday night. UTC improved to 9-6 overall and 4-2 in league play to jump right back in the Southern Conference race. The Cougars fell to 9-4 overall while suffering their first SoCon loss in five games.
The Lady Mocs looked strong in the opening minutes, jumping out to a 9-1 lead behind five points from sophomore Tenisha Townsend (Antioch, Tenn.). The Cougars stormed back to tie it at nine on a layup by Deidra Jones at the 13:34 mark. UTC locked down on defense after that score, only allowing two points over the next nine minutes of action.
The College of Charleston packed it in with a 2-3 zone defense trying to stop Lady Moc senior Shanara Hollinquest (Sylacauga, Ala.). Hollinquest came into the game leading the SoCon in scoring, averaging 19.3 ppg this season.
That left the door open for Chattanooga to attack from outside. However, UTC only hit two of its first 11 attempts from behind the 3-point line. Fortunately for UTC, freshman Erin Helton (Cookeville, Tenn.) drilled a kick-out 3-pointer from fellow freshman Michelle Davis (Cleveland, Tenn.) and senior Jenaya Wade-Fray (Madison, Ala.) dropped in her second three of the half to give the Lady Mocs a 27-11 lead with just under six minutes left.
That opened the middle up for Hollinquest who scored four of her eight first-half points in the closing minutes of the period. Chattanooga took a 33-24 lead into the locker room, despite only shooting 4-of-15 from outside and committing 10 turnovers.
Charleston quickly cut the halftime lead to six, 35-29 before the first media timeout in the second period. With Hollinquest taking a break, UTC's freshmen took over. Davis, Helton and Kayla Christopher (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) combined to score the Lady Mocs' next 14 points. Davis' jumper with 10:44 on the clock gave the Lady Mocs a 49-37 lead.
Wade-Fray and Hollinquest added to the margin on back-to-back scores in the paint to push the lead to 16 at the 8:52 mark. The Cougars would not go away and went on a 14-5 run over the next five minutes to cut the lead to seven at 58-51 with just under three minutes to play. The Lady Mocs held on down the stretch to pull out the win.
Despite being hounded by a tough Cougar defense, Hollinquest still managed 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting and a game-high tying eight rebounds. Helton and Davis combined to provide a solid second-option in the post for the Lady Mocs tonight. Davis scored 10 points on 5-for-7 shooting while Helton added seven points and six rebounds. Davis reached double-figures for the first time in six games and the fourth time this season.
Wade-Fray led the Lady Mocs with 14 points and tied Hollinquest for game-high honors with eight boards. She also had a season-high four assists in the game.
The Lady Mocs are back in action on Monday, Jan. 4, when they host Georgia Southern (7-6, 2-2 SoCon) at the McKenzie Arena. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. (E.S.T.) and tickets are available at the UTC Ticket Office by calling (423) 266-MOCS (6627) or online at GoMocs.com.
Follow all of the action online with live audio, video and stats on GoMocs.com. Larry Ward, "the Voice of the Lady Mocs", will have the call on ESPN Radio 105.1 FM in Chattanooga.
