CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team posted a tight 65-59 win over UAB in the season opener for both teams Friday night at the McKenzie Arena to advance to the second round of the Preseason WNIT.
Sophomore Taylor Hall (New Tazewell, Tenn.) posted a double-double with a team-high 13 points and 10 rebounds while teammate senior Whitney Hood (Meridian, Miss.) recorded a double-double as well with 11 points and 10 boards.
Chattanooga led throughout much of the first half behind the offense of Hall who had eight points at the half. However, the Blazers took a brief lead toward the end of the first half outscoring UTC 10-3 over a three minute stretch to take a 30-27 lead with 30 seconds to play. Senior Tenisha Townsend (Antioch, Tenn.) drained a 3-pointer with seven ticks on the clock to draw even at intermission.
In the second half, the lead changed four times with neither team getting ahead by more than six points. Hood, who was 1-of-3 in the first half, went 3-for-4 from the field and was a perfect 3-for-3 from the charity stripe. Junior Kylie Lambert (Etowah, Tenn.) added eight points in the second frame to score a team-best 13 points of 4-of-5 shooting including a 2-for-2 from beyond the arc.
Towsend was a solid 4-for-4 from the free throw line down the stretch to solidify the Lady Mocs lead and was the fourth UTC player in double figures with 10 points and five assists. Junior Kayla Christopher (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) was held scoreless throughout much of the game with the UAB defense stacked against her. However, she hit a jumper with 3:55 to play to cut the Blazers lead to 54-53 then followed that with a trey to give Chattanooga a 56-54 lead 50 seconds later.
UAB's Amber Jones drained a 3-pointer of her own to give the Blazers UAB a 57-56 lead. However, Townsend was rock solid from the line and scored all four of her free throws in the final 42 seconds of play.
Chattanooga will travel to Waco, Texas to take on the No. 1 Baylor Bears Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. Baylor posted an 82-28 win over Howard in its first round matchup. Check GoMocs.com for live stats and video streaming. Larry Ward, the "Voice of the Lady Mocs" will have all the action live Sunday afternoon on either 105.1 FM or 95.3 FM.
