GREENSBORO, N.C. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team shot 75 percent from beyond the 3-point line Monday night in an 81-46 victory at UNCG in Southern Conference action.
Chattanooga improves to 16-3 on the year with its 12th straight victory and improve to 4-0 in conference action, while the Spartans fall to 5-14 overall and 0-4 in SoCon play.
Sophomore Chelsey Shumpert (Paducah, Ky.) and senior Ka'Vonne Towns (Lilburn, Ga.) combined for nine 3-pointers as UTC made a season-high 12-of-16 from long range. From the field, the Mocs were 28-of-43 for a season-high 65.1 percent.
Chattanooga started the game strong making its first three buckets while the Spartans missed their first nine tries and the Mocs were off to a 6-0 lead less than three minutes into the game. UTC continued its run allowing UNCG just 18 first half points to lead 47-18 at intermission.
The Mocs shot 68 percent in the first half, making 17-of-25 and were 7-of-9 from the 3-pointer line. The second half was nearly as good with UTC making 11-of-18 from the field and 5-of-7 from beyond the arc.
Shumpert led all scorers with 19 points making 6-of-9 field goals and matched her career-high for 3-pointers with five on the night. She added in a team-high three assists and three steals. Towns was 4-of-5 from long range, making 5-of-6 from the field. Sophomore Jasmine Joyner (Southaven, Miss.) had 11 points and six rebounds and moved up to sixth on the Southern Conference single season chart with 81 on the year with her four tonight.
Freshman Keiana Gilbert (Columbia, Tenn.) had a career-best 13 rebounds and just missed a double-double with nine points. Payne hit double-figures for the second straight game and her third in four outings with 10 points. She was 3-of-4 and made all four free throws and had a team-high three assists and two steals.
The game was played at a quick and physical pace with the Mocs forced into 19 turnovers while the Spartans had 17. Chattanooga turned UNCG's misfortunes into 27 points while the Spartans converted Chattanooga's miscues into 18 points.
UNCG edged the Mocs on the boards 35-34 and had 12 second chance points off 21 offensive rebounds. However, the Spartans shot just 31.4 percent for the game. UNCG had a 34-30 points advantage in the piant while UTC turned 10 steals into 20 fastbreak points.
Freshman Anna Claire Noblit (Tuscumbia, Ala.) made Chattanooga's final shot of the game, a 3-pointer with 50 seconds to play, to give the Mocs its largest lead of the game at 81-44. Chattanooga led start to finish and recorded its largest margin of victory this season at 35 points.
The Mocs will host Furman Saturday afternoon at the Roundhouse in the first of a doubleheader with the men's team. Both games will be aired live on ESPN3.com and at 96.1 FM on your radio dial. The game is set to tip at 3 p .m.
