CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- Senior Shanara Hollinquest and freshman Kayla Christopher combined for 37 points to lead the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team to a 57-55 win over Georgia Southern in the McKenzie Arena Monday night. The win moves the Lady Mocs to 10-6 overall and 5-2 in the Southern Conference, and drops GSU to 7-7 and 2-3 in league play.
Christopher (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) calmly stroked a three-pointer with 3.3 seconds left to make the game-winner for the Lady Mocs. She scored a career-high 18 points on the night and grabbed nine rebounds.
Hollinquest (Sylacauga, Ala.) led all scorers with 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as the Lady Mocs won the battle of the boards 44-34. It's her eighth double-double of the year, third in her last five games.
Carolyn Whitney led the Eagles with 10 points, all in the first half, and seven rebounds. Southern had six players with six or more points for the game.
It was a topsy-turvy game from start to finish with 16 lead changes and five ties. There were 13 lead changes and four ties in the first 15-plus minutes alone before the Lady Mocs went over six minutes without a field goal going 0-5 from the field with four turnovers. It propelled the Eagles on a 6-1 run to take a five-point cushion, 26-21, at 4:36 on two Jamie Navarro free throws.
A Hollinquest layup ended the drought for the Lady Mocs at 3:32, but the Eagles answered with five straight points capped by a Whitney layup at 1:51 to make it 31-23. Freshman Erin Helton (Cookeville, Tenn.) hit a three for Chattanooga to cut it to 31-26 at the break.
The Lady Mocs shot just 32.3 percent from the field hitting 10 of 31 shots in the opening half. The turnover bug hurt Chattanooga with eight that GSU converted to nine points.
Georgia Southern scored the first four points of the second half to jump to a 35-26 lead before Hollinquest answered in the paint for the Lady Mocs with a strong take to the basket at 18:02. The Eagles extended the lead back to nine on two Jessica Geiger free throws at 17:35 to make it 37-28.
The Lady Mocs scored the next five points, all by Hollinquest, to claw back in the game, 37-33. Samantha Williams answered for GSU with a three-pointer, before Holinquest scored inside to cut the lead back to five, 40-35.
Both teams continued to hit shots midway through the half. A Christopher three-pointer at 9:24 chiseled the lead down to three points, 48-45. After freshman Michelle Davis (Cleveland, Tenn.) cut the lead to two, 51-49, with a free throw, Christopher hit a jumper to knot the score at 51-51 with 7:06 to play.
Sophomore Tenisha Townsend (Antioch, Tenn.) gave the Lady Mocs their first lead of the second half, 54-53, with a three-pointer from the left wing with 3:55 to play. A Krista Tate jumper from the baseline at 2:52 gave the Eagles the lead right back at 55-54.
It was a roller-coaster ride to the finish. On the Lady Mocs last possession, they got off two shots within three feet of the basket that rimmed out, but offensive rebounds by senior Jenaya Wade-Fray (Madison, Ala.) and Townsend kept it alive for Christopher to calmly hit a three-pointer from the right wing with 3.3 seconds to play. After a timeout, a Whitney desperation three-point attempt was off the mark giving the Lady Mocs an emotional victory in the Roundhouse.
Holinquest and Christopher combined to score 19 straight points in a key second half surge for the Lady Mocs, who trailed by as many as nine with 17:35 to play. The duo scored 24 of Chattanooga's 31 second-half points.
The Chattanooga defense was key down the stretch. It held the Eagles to just two field goals over the final eight minutes of the game.
Both defenses kept their opponent under 40 percent from the field as the Lady Mocs shot 35.0 percent (21-60) compared to 35.7 percent (20-56) for GSU. Both teams hit seven three-pointers and eight free throws. Rebounding was the key to the game as the Lady Mocs converted 15 offensive rebounds into 18 points, none bigger than Christopher's clinching three-pointer.
The Lady Mocs hit the road this weekend travelling to Appalachian State for a 3 p.m. tip on Saturday afternoon. Larry Ward, "The Voice of the Lady Mocs" will have the call on ESPN Radio 105.1 FM "The Zone". Log onto the official website of Chattanooga athletics for live stats and streaming video and audio.
