Box Score KNOXVILLE, Tenn. --- After trailing 26-7 through one quarter, the Chattanooga women's basketball team outscored No. 4 Tennessee 50-33 the rest of the game but fell short 59-57 at Thompson-Boling Arena Monday night. The Mocs drop to 3-2 on the year while the Lady Vols improve to 4-0.
 
In the second half, Chattanooga was 12-of-20 (60%) and outscored Tennessee 38-21, allowing the Lady Vols to shoot just 30 percent in the half. Chattanooga was led in scoring by transfer Queen Alford (Decatur, Ga.) with 19 points in just her second start at UTC.
 
 It was all UT in the first quarter. The Lady Vols got out to a 19-2 lead behind eight points from Bashaara Graves in the first 6:33 of the frame. Chattanooga would get five points to Tennessee's seven in the final minutes of the first half, but would trail by 19 at the break.
 
"I did not like their eyes in the first quarter," Chattanooga head coach Jim Foster said. "I don't like the look of fear. I don't like the look of 'I don't want the responsibility.' We kept talking about that and you could see it starting to disappear."
 
The two teams played it even in the second quarter with each getting 12 points. Junior Jasmine Joyner (Southaven, Miss.) got into early foul trouble and was replaced by redshirt sophomore Ansley Chilton (Trenton, Ga.) who scored four of her career-high 15 points in the period.
 
"Jaz has got to get smarter," Foster said. "We can't play lengths of time with her on the bench. Her competitive spirit is such that she wants to block every shot and you can't."
 
In the first half, the Mocs shot just 32 percent and turned the ball over 13 times. It would be a different story after the halftime break with a 60 percent shooting performance and eight miscues. UTC shot 6-of-8 from the 3-point line in the second half and 8-of-11 from the charity stripe.
 
The Mocs went on a 20-7 run in the third quarter that spilled into the final frame. Alford started the scoring with the first four points of the third quarter around a jumper from UTK's Jasmine Jones to make it 40-23 with 7:49 to play in the third. A layup from Joyner cut the Vols lead to 15, 40-25 half a minute later, but UTK rebuilt its lead to 20 points getting the next five points to make it 45-25 at the 6:17 mark of the half.
 
It would be all Alford and Chilton for the rest of the third. Alford hit a layup and went 4-for-4 from the free throw line for a total of 10 points in the quarter while Chilton hit the first of her three 3-pointers for five points in the third to make it a 45-36 game after 30 minutes of play.
 
Tennessee went 0-for-12 over the final 6:17 of the third and committed four turnovers after Chattanooga put in a zone defense.
 
"We can play a lot of defenses," Foster said. "We can do a lot of things defensively. We just need to grow."
 
Joyner capped of the Mocs' 14 straight points with a 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter to get Chattanooga to within six points with 9:19 to play. The Mocs would get as close as two points three times, but could not pull past Tennessee.
 
Mercedes Russell pushed the lead back out to 47-39, but Alford dropped in a trey to make it a five point game just moments later. Russell's layup at the 7:59 mark made it a seven-point game, 49-42, but a layup from Keiana Gilbert (Pulaski, Tenn.) and 3-pointer from Chilton got the Mocs to its closest of the game at 49-47 with 7:02 to play.
 
Tennessee called for time and would push its lead back out to 53-47 with back-to-back jumpers from Jordan Reynolds and Diamond DeShields.
 
Alford made it 53-48 making the first of two free throws and the two teams would combine to miss their next seven attempts over the next two minutes. Chilton ended the scoring drought with a 3-pointer to make it 53-51 with 2:49 remaining in the game.
 
Tennessee got it lead back out to six points, 57-51 behind DeShields and Russell with 2:01 to play. Alford hit a pair of free throws to make it 57-53 but DeShields pushed the lead back to six with a short jumper.
 
Senior Alicia Payne (Memphis, Tenn.) connected on a free throw and Joyner's 3-pointer as time expired made it 59-57 for the final score.
 
Alford led all scorers with 19 points making 5-of-13 from the field and was 2-of-3 from the 3-point line. She connected on seven of her nine free throws and had two steals in 32 minutes. Chilton was 6-of-7 from the field and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc for a career-best 15 points. Gilbert had eight points and a team-best nine rebounds with four assists and three steals. Joyner dropped in eight points with seven rebounds and three blocked shots.
 
Chattanooga was 21-of-48 for the game (43.8%) and shot 46.7 percent (7-15) from the 3-point line. The Mocs free throws, 8-of-11, all came in the second half. Tennessee outscored UTC 32-24 in the paint and 20-16 off turnovers. The two teams combined for 40 miscues in the game with UTC having 21.
 
DeShields had a team-high 17 points off the bench for UT with four steals while Graves had a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Russell was the third Tennessee player in double figures with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
 
Chattanooga returns to the Roundhouse for a three-game home stand beginning with Arkansas State Wednesday evening. The game is set to tip at 6:30 p.m.