CHARLOTTE, N.C. --- Senior Shanara Hollinquest (Sylacauga, Ala.) led five Chattanooga players in double figures as the Lady Mocs defeated UNC Greensboro 82-64 in the quarterfinal round of the Southern Conference Tournament at the Bojangles Coliseum.
Hollinquest went 10-for-15 from the floor including 2-of-2 from the 3-point line to record her 16th double-double of the year with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore Tenisha Townsend knocked down a career-high 15 points with a trio of 3-pointers.
After a slow start to the game, the Lady Mocs hit three straight 3-pointers to kick off a 25-9 run that gave Chattanooga its largest lead of the first half at 26-13 with 5:55 to play until the half.
Chattanooga held on and led 35-27 at the break. The Spartans started out the second half outscoring UTC 5-2 to get within five points less than three minutes into the period. Lady Mocs senior Jenaya Wade-Fray (Madison, Ala.) and Hollinquest hit back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead back to double figures at 43-32 with 16:10 play in the game.
With 12:43 to play, redshirt freshman Michelle Davis (Cleveland, Tenn.) hit a layup to put Chattanooga up 49-39 and the Lady Mocs held onto their double-digit lead the remainder of the game.
Davis went 4-for-6 from the 3-point line and had 14 points and seven rebounds in the game. Freshman Kayla Christopher (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) went 5-for-9 from the floor for 13 points and Wade-Fray had 10 points in the game with three steals.
The Lady Mocs shot 31-for-57 (54.4%) from the floor and were 12-of-23 (52.2%) from the 3-point line. Chattanooga outrebounded the Spartans 39-28 and had 14 second chance points on 12 offensive boards. The Lady Mocs scored 38 points in the paint to UNC Greensboro's 30 and got 20 points from the bench.
Chattanooga will take Saturday off and return to action Sunday, March 7 at the Time Warner Arena in a noon semifinals matchup against either No. 4 College of Charleston or No. 5 Georgia Southern. The game will be televised by SportSouth.
Live stats and video and audio streaming will be available at the official website of Chattanooga athletics, GoMocs.com and SoConSports.com. Larry Ward, the "Voice of the Lady Mocs", will have all the action live on the flagship station of Chattanooga athletics ESPN 105.1 FM, The Zone.
