CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The Chattanooga women's basketball team defeated Davidson 65-54 Monday night at the McKenzie Arena to clinch its 11th consecutive regular season Southern Conference title.
The Lady Mocs improved to 20-7 overall for their 11th consecutive 20-win season, and 15-3 in SoCon play. Davidson, with three straight losses, falls to 12-13 overall and 10-7 in league play.
The action started slow as the two teams combined for four field goals and three free throws over the first 7:05 of the game to end up tied 7-7. The two teams traded shots over the next three minutes and tied twice more before the Lady Mocs grabbed the lead for good.
Freshman Kylie Lambert (Etowah, Tenn.) drove to the bucket at the 9:07 mark sparking a 21-5 run to halftime and Chattanooga led 33-17 at the break.
The Lady Mocs continued the run into the second half putting in the first five points for their largest lead of the game 38-17 at the 18:35 mark.
Davidson wasn't ready to lay down yet scoring seven straight in a minute-and-a-half to cut the lead to 14 points with 15:30 to play.
The Lady Mocs got the lead back up to 44-24 on a four-point play by freshman Kayla Christopher (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) just over a minute later, but the Wildcats posted an 11-4 run over the next 5:47 to put Chattanooga's lead into jeopardy getting to 48-35 with 7:37 to go.
Davidson continued to chip away at Chattanooga's precarious lead getting as close as seven four times, but the Lady Mocs held on for the win.
Senior Shanara Hollinquest went 9-for-13 from the free throw line and recorded her 14th double-double of the year with a game-high 19 points, 13 rebounds and four assists. Classmate Jenaya Wade-Fray (Madison, Ala.) added 17 points and topped the 200 mark for career made 3-pointers with 202. She is the fourth person in Southern Conference history and third at UTC to reach the 200 plateau.
Lambert marked her first back-to-back double digit performance with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting with a pair of 3-pointers, and three steals. Senior Megan Rollins (Monteagle, Tenn.) grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds with six on each end. She and Hollinquest combined for 13 of UTC's 16 offensive boards.
Davidson's Sophia Aleksandrivicius led the attack for the Wildcats with a double-double. She had 16 points and 13 rebounds off the bench. Alex Thompson had 16 points as well for Davidson making 7-of-9 from the free throw line. Ashley Lax, with a pair of 3-pointers, was the third Davidson player in double figures with 10 points.
The Lady Mocs edged Davidson on the boards 47-46 and had 17 second chance points. The Lady Mocs tied its lowest turnover performance of the year with eight and forced the Wildcats into 16, making seven points off the miscues. Inside Chattanooga held the advantage as well 30-18.
Samford, who was trailing the Lady Mocs by one game heading into the night, fell 66-55 to Appalachian State in Birmingham, Ala., assuring the Lady Mocs at least a share of the league title. This is Chattanooga's 16th title since the 1983-84 season. Chattanooga becomes just the fifth team to win at least 11 consecutive titles. The most is 12 by Old Dominion from 1993-2004. Wisconsin-Green Bay has won 11 straight titles and is the only other team with an active streak longer than UTC's.
Up next for the Lady Mocs will be a road contest at Western Carolina Monday, Feb. 22 in Cullowee, N.C. Larry Ward, the "Voice of the Lady Mocs", will have all the action live on 95.3 FM The Pulse. The game will tip at 7 p.m. Live stats, streaming audio and video will be available at www.GoMocs.com, the official website of Chattanooga athletics.
