GREENSBORO, N.C. --- After trailing 20-5 less than six minutes into the game, the Lady Mocs, led by senior Whitney Hood's (Meridian, Miss.) game-high 19 points, went on to outscore UNCG 58-26 over the remainder of the game for a 63-46 win over the Spartans in the Southern Conference opener for both teams.
The Lady Mocs even their record at 3-3 and are 1-0 in league play. UNC drops to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in SoCon action.
UNCG started the game shooting 9-of-11 while the Lady Mocs were 2-of-7 from the field and had four turnovers to get out to its largest lead of the game, 20-5 at the 14:22 mark. However, the Spartans would miss their next nine attempts and turn the ball over twice, while still maintaining a 20-10 lead over the next five minutes.
Chattanooga, behind Hood and junior Kayla Christopher (Oliver Springs, Tenn.), would pull to within two points and trail UNCG 24-22 at intermission.
In the second half, the Lady Mocs picked up where they left off in the first. Sophomore Taylor Hall (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) drained a 3-pointer and junior Kylie Lambert (Etowah, Tenn.) followed it up with a jumper to tie the game for the first time since the 19:02 mark of the first half at 28-28 with 18:17 to play. She was fouled on the play and converted the 3-point play to give Chattanooga its first lead of the game and the Lady Mocs would not trail again.
Chattanooga built its lead to 41-33 with 12:23 to play, but the Spartans cut it in half less than two minutes later to trail UTC 41-37 with 10:35 to play.
From there it would be all Chattanooga as the Lady Mocs outpaced UNCG 22-9 over the final 8:52 of the game and claim the win in the SoCon opener.
Hood led all scorers with her season-high 19 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Christopher had 17 points and five rebounds, including four off the offensive glass, and six assists while sophomore Alex Black (Memphis, Tenn.), starting the second half at point, had a season-high 10 points with two steals. Hall pulled down a career-best 12 rebounds with six points and Lambert had seven points and 11 rebounds.
Chattanooga will close out a three-week road odyssey Saturday evening at Elon with a 7 p.m. start. Larry Ward, the "Voice of the Lady Mocs" will have the call live on ESPN 105.1 FM. Check GoMocs.com, the official website of Chattanooga athletics, for complete information.
