CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- After trailing 7-0 to start the game, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team battled back to grab a 74-67 win over the visiting Wofford Terriers Friday night at the McKenzie Arena in Southern Conference action.
The Lady Mocs remain undefeated in league play with a 6-0 mark and improve to 11-4 overall while Wofford drops to 2-4 in the SoCon and 9-6 on the year.
Wofford went 3-for-4 with an offensive rebound and forced a UTC turnover to jump out to a 7-0 lead in just over a minute of play. Chattanooga got on the board with a 3-pointer from junior Kylie Lambert (Etowah, Tenn.) at the 18:08 mark of the first half, but the Terriers would hold the lead until midway through the half.
With 9:51 to play in the opening stanza, sophomore Alex Black (Memphis, Tenn.) sparked a 13-2 UTC run with a 3-pointer from the left side to cut Wofford's lead to 18-17. She would then get a defensive rebound and assist senior Whitney Hood (Meridian, Miss.) on the other end and followed that up with a a steal and make a layup on a fast break to put Chattanooga up 21-18.
Hood capped off the 13-2 run with a layup at the 5:56 mark of the first half to give the Lady Mocs their largest lead of the first half, 27-20. However, apart from a jumper from junior Kayla Christopher (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) at the 4:38 mark, Chattanooga would go cold from the field missing its final seven attempts of the half and Wofford took a 30-29 halftime lead.
The second started out with seven lead changes and three ties before the Lady Mocs took control with a 9-2 run bookended by free throws from Hood. After nearly a four-minute scoring drought by both teams, Hood drew a foul from Wofford's Daniella Motley with 8:11 to play and drained two of her career-high tying 10 free throws to give Chattanooga a 49-47 lead, one it would not relinquish.
Terrier Morgan Wrightson had a quick answer with a layup on the other end to knot it back up 49-49 with 8:02 remaining. Wrightson would foul Lambert moments later and Chattanooga retook the lead 51-49 on her two free throws. Just seconds later, the Lady Mocs forced a turnover by the Terriers and Christopher's steal led to a fastbreak layup by Black and a minute later Hood's layup gave the Lady Mocs' some breathing room at 55-49 with 6:17 on the clock.
Hood converted the first of two free throws to cap off the nine-point run at the 5:31 mark and the two teams would trade points over the remaining minutes for the final74-67 score. Chattanooga went 11-of-12 from the free throw line in the waning minutes with sophomore Taylor Hall (New Tazewell, Tenn.) hitting all four of hers in the final 12 seconds to seal the win.
Hood led all scorers with 24 points, a season-high and had six rebounds, four assists and was 10-of-12 from the charity stripe. Black was 2-of-3 from the 3-point line with 14 points and a career-high seven rebounds and two blocked shots in 25 minutes.
Christopher went 3-of-4 from the 3-point line with 13 points, two assists and two steals while Hall pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds and was 6-of-8 from the free throw line for eight points. Lambert just missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.
Chattanooga returns to action to host Furman Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. at the Roundhouse. The Paladins are 9-7 overall and 5-2 in league play with losses to Davidson and Samford. For tickets, check the official website of Chattanooga athletics, GoMocs.com.
