KNOXVILLE, Tenn. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team saw its six-game win streak snapped Tuesday night with a 90-47 loss to No. 6 Tennessee at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Chattanooga struggled to find the basket in the first half hitting just 6-of-29 (20.7%) and missing all eight of its 3-point attempts. The Lady Vols, on the other hand, shot 56.3 percent (18-of-32) and went 10-of-12 from the free throw line to lead 50-16 at the break.
The second half saw the Lady Mocs settle into their offense a bit, connecting on 11-of-27 (40.7%) for the half and making 3-of-9 from beyond the arc. Tennessee, however, continued to pour on the offense and kept UTC in check.
The game was a homecoming for sophomore Faith Dupree (Knoxville, Tenn.) who transferred midway through last year from the Knoxville campus. Her first shot of the night, a jumper in the lane, took a hometown roll. She took several more and closed out the game with a career-high 17 points. She was 7-of-10 on the night with a 3-pointer and was 2-for-2 from the free throw line. She chipped in four rebounds and one assist.
Senior Whitney Hood (Meridian, Miss.) was the second Chattanooga player in double figures with 10 points and three boards. Junior Kylie Lambert (Etowah, Tenn.) had eight points on the night while sophomore Taylor Hall (New Tazewell, Tenn.) pulled down four rebounds and had four points. Sophomore Meghan Downes had three rebounds and three steals.
Chattanooga got on the board first with a put back by Hood in the first minute, but that would be UTC's only lead of the game. Hall hit a shot to tie it up 4-4 a few minutes later. Tennessee hit a pair of 3's to stretch the lead before Dupree connected on back-to-back jumpers to get Chattanooga to within two at 10-8 with 16:33 to play in the first.
It would be all Tennessee for the next 11 minutes, outscoring the Lady Mocs 30-0 for a 40-8 lead at the 5:46 mark of the first half. Junior Kayla Christopher hit a quick 12-foot jumper to break the drought, but UTK outscored Chattanooga 10-8 down the stretch to go into halftime with a 50-16 lead.
In the second half, Chattanooga quickly got on the board first on a short jumper from Hood. However, the Lady Vols put in eight points before Chattanooga had an answer to lead 58-18 with 15:56 to play. Hall's 18-footer pushed Chattanooga to 20 points and the Lady Mocs would go on an 8-2 run to cut the lead to 60-26 with 14:16 to play in the game.
UTK's Ariel Massengale hit a jumper with 12:11 to play and the Lady Mocs held Tennessee scoreless for the next four minutes. Dupree took advantage of the lull and put in four more points to cut the lead to 65-30, but the Lady Vols andwered back stretching the lead back to 40 points with 7:13 to play.
The two teams traded baskets down the stretch before UTK connected on three straight shots to make it 90-44 to grab its largest lead of the game. Lambert connected on her lone 3-pointer of the game for the final 90-47 mark.
Tennessee improves to 10-3 overall. Chattanooga falls to 8-4 on the year and closes out non-conference play with a 5-4 mark. The Lady Mocs will travel to South Carolina to take on the College of Charleston Saturday afternoon at TD Arena. The game is set to start at 2 p.m. Check with GoMocs.com, the official website of Chattanooga Athletics for all the action.
