CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- University of Tennessee at Chattanooga sophomore Alex Black (Memphis, Tenn.) went 10-for-10 from the free throw line in the final 5:53, including a 6-for-6 effort in the final 51 seconds, to lead the Lady Mocs to a 64-58 win over Western Carolina Monday night at the McKenzie Arena.
Black led the Lady Mocs with a career-high 15 points in Chattanooga's fifth straight win. UTC is 7-3 on the year and now 3-0 in Southern Conference play. The Catamounts fall to 4-7 overall and 0-4 in league action. The loss was the fifth straight for Western Carolina.
Chattanooga held a slim 10-point lead with 3:23 to play on Black's fourth made free throw but the Catamounts would have an answer. Makensey Campbell cut the Lady Mocs lead to 57-50 on a 3-pointer with 2:12 to play and Kaila'Shea Menendez connected on both of her free throws to pull the Catamounts to within five at 57-52 with 1:39 to play.
Black pushed the lead back to 59-52 with two more from the charity stripe, but Menendez drained her seventh 3-pointer just seconds later to make it a four-point game at 59-55 with just 42 seconds to play. Junior Kayla Christopher (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) drew the foul while bringing the ball up court and made the first of her one-and-bonus to give UTC a five-point cushion at 60-55.
However, Campbell's 3-pointer with 28 seconds to play cut that lead to two, the closest the Catamounts would get. Black made two more free throws to put the Lady Mocs up 62-58 with 23 seconds on the clock. Western Carolina's Cailtlin Hollifield missed a 3-pointer from the top of the key and the Cats grabbed the rebound, but a jumper from Campbell missed its mark and Black grabbed the rebound and was fouled.
She hit two more and became just the fifth Lady Moc player to make 10 free throws without a miss in a game and her 15th straight since the opening game against UAB. Shanara Hollinquest (2006-10) went 14-of-14 against Samford in the SoCon tournament in 2010.
Chattanooga got out to a 5-0 lead before Menendez drained her first 3-pointer to get the Catamounts on the board. Junior Kylie Lambert (Etowah, Tenn.) hit a 3-pointer to make it an 8-2 game before Menendez connected on another to cut the lead to 8-5 Chattanooga pushed its lead up to 20-8 at the 10:35 mark on a layup from sophomore Faith Dupree (Knoxville, Tenn.) who posted a career-high 10 points in the first half.
Western Carolina got to within seven with five quick points but UTC continued its offensive push and led 38-24 at the half.
Senior Whitney Hood (Meridian, Miss.) hit a layup to start the second half and gave Chattanooga its largest lead of the game at 40-24. Chattanooga outscored the Catamounts 32-18 in the paint and had 11 points off seven Western Carolina turnovers. Chattanooga posted a season-low eight miscues and got 30 points from the bench.
The Lady Mocs outrebounded WCU 44-33 behind Hood's career-high tying 13 boards. Lambert grabbed seven rebounds, including five offensive boards and had nine points. Sophomore Taylor Hall just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds and Dupree had 10 points in eight minutes of play. Hood had eight points for the Lady Mocs and senior Tenisha Townsend dished out four assists.
Chattanooga closes out play before the holiday break with a road trip to East Tennessee State Thursday. The game is set to tip at 7 p.m. Follow the action live at ESPN 105.1 The Zone with Larry Ward, the "Voice of the Lady Mocs". Live stats and FREE online audio is available at GoMocs.com.
