CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- Chattanooga's Shanara Hollinqeust (Sylacauga, Ala.) led four players in double figures as the Lady Mocs defeated fifth seeded Georgia Southern 60-49 in the semifinals of the Southern Conference Tournament at the Time Warner Cable Arena Sunday afternoon.
The Lady Mocs improve to 23-8 overall and will make its 13th appearance in the SoCon finals and eighth in the last 10 years. The Eagles fall to 19-12 overall. This was the fifth meeting between the two schools in the SoCon Tournament with the Lady Mocs winning the last three.
After the Eagles got out to a 10-3 start, the Lady Mocs scored the next 11 on a pair of free throws and a trio of 3-pointers. UTC added to that outscoring Georgia Southern 24-5 over the next 9:47 to take a 27-15 lead with 5:44 to play in the first frame.
Georgia Southern cut the lead back to single digits on a pair of jumpers before Chattanooga stretched the lead to its largest of the first half, 33-19 with 3:38 until half, with Davis' fourth 3-pointer and an old-fashioned 3-point play from Hollinquest.
Chattanooga led 34-23 at the half, but the Eagles came out of the locker room strong and cut the lead to 40-36 on a 3-pointer from Meredyth Frye with 13:03 to play. The Lady Mocs got the lead back up to eight, but GSU wouldn't go away getting back to within four with 9:41 to play.
At the 9:29 mark, sophomore point guard Tenisha Townsend (Antioch, Tenn.) drove the lane for a layup sparking a 16-4 run that included a pair of 3-pointers from senior Jenaya Wade-Fray (Madison, Ala.) to give the Lady Mocs their largest lead of the game at 60-44 with 1:24 to play.
Wade-Fray posted her fifth double-double of the year with 13 points and 11 rebounds. She went 3-for-4 from the 3-point line, had 10 defensive boards and had three dishes to move her into the Top 10 at UTC for career assists (275).
Hollinquest led the Lady Mocs in scoring for the 19th time this season with 17 points. Davis had 14 points and seven rebounds and freshman Kayla Christopher (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) had 10 points, five rebounds and three assists.
The Lady Mocs will play the winner of the second-seeded Samford Monday night at 5 p.m.
