CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team cruised to an 85-69 win over Furman Tuesday night at the Roundhouse. It was the 200th Lady Mocs basketball game in the McKenzie Arena and ended up the biggest win of the year for UTC.
Chattanooga (6-8, 3-2 SoCon) got 54 combined points from sophomore Kayla Christopher (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) and junior Whitney Hood (Meridian, Miss.). Christopher tied a Lady Mocs' McKenzie Arena record with six three-pointers on her way to a career-high 30 points. Hood, the leading scorer in the Southern Conference at 22.8 points per game, increased her average with 24 of her own.
The win was the 19th-straight for UTC in the series with Furman (6-7, 2-2) as Chattanooga won its third in a row for the first time this season. The Lady Mocs are now 161-39 (.805) all-time in the Roundhouse and 137-26 (.840) in the 13-year tenure of head coach Wes Moore.
Christopher torched the Paladins, shooting 11-for-15 from the field, 6-of-8 from 3-point range and 2-for-2 from the charity stripe. She also added four assists, four rebounds and two steals in 31 minutes of action, the second-fewest she has seen this season. Chattanooga has now had a 30-point scorer in three of its last four games.
Junior Bailey Dewart (Spartanburg, S.C.) was active early, crashing the boards for five rebounds in the first 10 minutes of play and eight by halftime. She hit three of her first four shots from the field before finishing with eight points and a career-high tying 11 boards.
Since rejoining the starting lineup over the last four games, Dewart has nearly doubled her production. She is averaging 7.0 ppg and 8.3 rebounds per game over that time. She also added four assists and a career-high four steals tonight.
Typical of her play of late, Dewart grabbed one of Hood's misses early in the game and kicked it out to junior Tenisha Townsend (Antioch, Tenn.) who nailed a three. That gave UTC an 18-10 lead with 13:10 on the clock as part of a 16-2 Chattanooga run.
Christopher kept it going moments later when she nailed one of her career-high six three-pointers, pushing the lead to 21-10 with less than 11 minutes left in the opening period. Chattanooga went on to take a 34-23 lead into the locker room.
After the break, the Lady Mocs used a quick 9-0 run to open up a 49-30 advantage just over four minutes into the latter period. Sophomore Kylie Lambert (Etowah, Tenn.) capped the spurt with a three-point play with 15:38 on the clock.
Furman outscored UTC 10-4 over the next two minutes and cut the lead to 53-40 on a jumper from Kendra Berry. However, that would be the last time the Paladins would threaten the lead in the game.
Hood and Christopher took over, scoring the Lady Mocs's next 12 points while pushing the difference to 65-44 at the 11-minute mark. Christopher nailed two threes and a jumper from the elbow in that run.
Hood only tallied four points on 2-of-9 shooting in the first half, but was unstoppable down low in the second. She shot 8-of-9 from the field and 4-of-4 from the free throw line to score 20 points in the final 20 minutes.
Lambert added 12 points and seven rebounds while tying a career-high with six assists. She was 3-for-6 from the field and 6-of-7 from the charity stripe. Furman was led by Kelly O'Connor's 19 points. Kaitin Murphy added 17 and a team-high four assists.
Chattanooga will put its first three-game winning streak of the year on the line on Saturday, Jan. 8, hosting UNC Greensboro. This is the third of a four-game homestand for the Lady Mocs. Tipoff is set for 6:00 p.m. (E.D.T.) and tickets are available at the UTC Ticket Office by calling (423) 266-MOCS (6627) or online at GoMocs.com.
Saturday is Youth and Autograph Night. All children, 12 and under, wearing a sports uniform will receive free admission to the game. Stick around after the game and get autographs from your favorite Lady Mocs along with Coach Moore and the rest of his staff.
If you can't make it to the game, follow all of the action on the ESPN Radio 105.1 FM, the flagship station of the Mocs Sports Network. Live video is also available on All Access on GoMocs.com.
GoMocs.com is the official website of the Chattanooga Mocs. The Mocs can also be followed on their official Facebook page, www.facebook.com/ChattanoogaMocs, or on Twitter, www.twitter.com/GoMocs.
