The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team put on a dominating performance on Senior Night against the Samford Bulldogs Saturday. The Lady Mocs wrapped up the No. 1 seed at next week's Southern Conference Tournament with a decisive 92-62 win in front of 2,396 fans at the Roundhouse.
It is the 11th consecutive SoCon regular season title for UTC who improved to 21-8 on the year and 16-4 in SoCon action. Samford finishes second in the league with a 20-9 overall record and 14-6 SoCon mark.
It may have been senior night, but it was a pair of freshman who came off the bench to put the Lady Mocs in the lead in the opening half. Erin Helton (Cookeville, Tenn.) scored 10 points while Michelle Davis (Cleveland, Tenn.) added four in the first 20 minutes.
Samford's Alex Crow hit a layup with just under 11 minutes in the half to give Samford an 18-16 lead. The Lady Mocs then turned on the offense, putting together a quick 9-0 run over the next three minutes to go up 25-18 on a Davis jumper.
Helton scored six straight points late in the first to help Chattanooga outscore the Bulldogs 20-7 in the final 10 minutes of the period. She also grabbed five, first-half boards to help put UTC up 36-25 at the break.
Senior Megan Rollins (Monteagle, Tenn.) stepped up after halftime and did her part in her final home game at McKenzie Arena. She scored five points in the first four minutes after the break to help extend the lead.
Samford cut the Lady Mocs' 17-point lead to eight on back-to-back 3-pointers from Savannah Hill, closing the score to 59-51 with 10:23 left in the game.
At that point, Helton led another 10-0 run to put UTC back in control. She called glass on a high-arcing three that banked in from the right wing. Following another 3-pointer from sophomore Tenisha Townsend, Helton and senior Shanara Hollinquest (Sylacauga, Ala.) each scored inside to push the lead to 69-51 with 8:12 left.
Hollinquest scored 11 second-half points on her way to 16 on the night. She broke her own UTC season record going 6-9 from the FT line. She now has 160 points from the foul line this season.
Rollins tied her career high with 13 points on 5-6 shooting and 3-4 from 3-pt. range. Fellow senior Jenaya Wade-Fray (Madison, Ala.) added eight points, seven boards and a career-high nine assists.
Helton led the way with team-high 17 points on 6-9 shooting, 1-1 from 3-pt. range and 4-4 from the FT line. She also grabbed a game-high nine boards. Sophomore Tenisha Townsend (Antioch, Tenn.) also tied her career-high with 13 points on 5-7 shooting, 3-5 from 3-pt. range. She also tied a season-high with six boards.
The Lady Mocs did not give Samford much of a chance in the second half, shooting 66.7% from the field and 8-11 (72.7%) from 3-pt. range in the final 20 minutes. They were also 16-18 from the FT line in the second half.
For the game, UTC shot a season-high 57.7% (30-52) from the floor and hit 12-22 from behind the arc. They also had a season-high 19 assists on their 30 field goals.
UTC will now turn its attention to the Southern Conference Tournament next week in Charlotte, N.C. The Lady Mocs will play the 8-9 winner in the second game of the morning session on Friday, March 5.
