CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- More than 3,000 fans rose to their feet Saturday night at the McKenzie Arena as the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team mounted a second-half comeback to down Appalachian State 59-56 in Southern Conference action.
The win keeps the Lady Mocs atop the SoCon standings with a 19-7 overall record and a 14-3 league mark. Appalachian State came into the game riding a seven-game win streak and sitting fourth in the league, two games behind Chattanooga. The Mountaineers falls to 14-10 overall and 10-5 in conference record.
With 12:11 to play in the game, freshman Kylie Lambert (Etowah, Tenn.) drained the third of her career-high 3-pointers to spark a 16-2 Chattanooga run. Senior Jenaya Wade-Fray (Madison, Ala.) forced a turnover by ASU's Sam Ramirez and broke down the court for a layup with 4:32 remaining to give the Lady Mocs a 53-50.
After leading 33-28 at the half, the Mountaineers went 7-for-10 to start the second half and pushed out to a 48-37, their largest of the game, with 12:27 to play, but the Lady Mocs weren't out yet.
In the midst of the 16-2 run, Chattanooga held the Mountaineers scoreless for more than nine minutes. Sophomore Tenisha Townsend (Antioch, Tenn.) hit a shot at the 7:33 mark to give the Lady Mocs their first lead since the two minute mark of the first half. The lead only got to three before the Mountaineers regained control with six straight points and led 56-53 with 1:20 to play.
Senior Shanara Hollinquest (Sylacauga, Ala.) scored inside to get the Lady Mocs to within a point. Ashlen Dewart, sister of UTC junior Bailey Dewart (Spartanburg, S.C.) missed a pair of free-throws on the other end. A scramble for the rebound ensued, and the Lady Mocs gained possession on the tie-up. Hollinquest was fouled with 18.4 seconds to go and she made both from the charity stripe to reclaim the lead for Chattanooga.
Chakeitha Weldon missed a driving attempt with 7.7 seconds to play, and the ball went out of bounds to the Lady Mocs. Freshamn Kayla Christopher (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) drew the foul on the throw in and made both of her free throws to give Chattanooga a three-point cushion with 5.9 to go.
Wade-Fray stole the ball on the Mountaineers' long inbounds pass to seal the victory.
Lambert had a career-high 12 points on four 3-pointers and five rebounds and tied her career-high in assists with four. Christopher also dropped in a team-best 12 points to lead the Lady Mocs and Hollinquest added 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds and three assists. Wade-Fray had four assists and two steals.
Ramirez had a game-high 19 points for Appalachian State. Dewart contributed 16 points and eight boards. Anna Freeman had a game-high 14 rebounds.
The Mountaineers won the battle of the boards 40-31 and had a 40-16 advantage in the paint with 18 points off 10 offensive boards.
The Lady Mocs shot 36.2 percent in the game on 21-of-58 shooting and were 8-of-11 from the free throw line. The Mountaineers were 25-of-55 from the floor (45.5%) and shot just 4-of-8 from the free throw line.
The Lady Mocs will host Davidson Monday night at 7 p.m. at the Roundhouse. Larry Ward, "the Voice of the Lady Mocs" will air the action live on the flagship station of Chattanooga athletics, ESPN Radio 105.1 FM. Live stats, streaming video and audio is available at the official website of UTC athletics, GoMocs.com.
