BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga fell 48-43 at Samford Saturday afternoon in Southern Conference women's basketball action. The Mocs fall to 13-7 overall and 4-2 in league play while the Bulldogs 12-8 on the year and 4-1 in conference action.
 
Junior Jasmine Joyner (Southaven, Miss.) had three blocked shots on the day and tied Appalachian State's Anna Freeman (2009-13) for second all-time in the SoCon with 265 career rejections. She had nine points and 12 rebounds in the game.
 
Sophomore Keiana Gilbert (Pulaski, Tenn.) led Chattanooga with 10 points. She added five rebounds and matched her career-highs in blocked shots (2) and steals (4).
 
The Mocs only lead of the game was junior Queen Alford's (Decatur, Ga.) first bucket of the game. The Bulldogs quickly tied it up and never trailed again.
 
Chattanooga kept it close throughout, never letting the lead get to more than eight points. Four times the Mocs tied it up. After trailing 10-4 in the first, UTC scored six straight to tie it up 10-10 with 15 second to play in the first quarter. Queen Alford forced a turnover at midcourt and scooped up the errant ball, sending it to Joyner under the basket for the score.
 
Samford made a quick bucket to go up by two at the end of the first, but sophomore Aryanna Gilbert (Pulaski, Tenn.) would tie it up to start the second 12-12 following a steal by senior Alicia Payne (Memphis, Tenn.). The Bulldogs retook the lead but would not get more than four points ahead.
 
Aryanna Gilbert would once again knot it up for the Mocs, making it 17-17 on a pair of free throws with 1:24 to play in the first half. Alford hit a layup to tie it at the start of the third quarter, 19-19, but that's the last time UTC would flirt with a chance at the lead.
 
Samford outscored UTC 8-2 over the next 2:52 for a 27-21 lead but the Mocs responded with the next four points, cutting the lead to 27-25 with 4:49 to play in the third quarter. After falling behind 31-25, Chattanooga cut the lead to 31-31 on a 3-point play from Joyner with 1:39 to play in the frame.
 
The Bulldogs would push its lead to eight points four times in the fourth quarter. The closest UTC was able to get in the period was 44-40 with 40 seconds to play on back-to-back buckets by the Mocs. Moses Johnson got a putback following an offensive board then Keiana Gilbert forced a turnover and her sister Aryanna made the layup to make it a four-point game with time winding down.
 
Samford made its next four free throws to grow its lead to 48-40. Payne connected on the lone 3-pointer by either team with 14 seconds to play to make it a five-point game.
 
Amara Mayers was 5-of-6 from the field and 8-for-10 from the free throw line to lead all scorers with 18 points. She had a game-high four steals. Taylor Reece put up 14 points for the Bulldogs and Destiney Elliott had nine points and a team-best five rebounds.
 
Samford edged Chattanooga 26-24 in the paint and outscored the Mocs 20-10 on points off turnovers. The Mocs had 13 points off 13 offensive rebounds while the Bulldogs did not score any. UTC had six fastbreak points and its bench outscored Samford's 6-2 with Johnson getting all six points for the Mocs.
 
Chattanooga will remain on the road, heading to ETSU next Saturday for a 2 p.m. tilt in Johnson City, Tenn., at Brooks Gym. The game will be carried live on ESPN3 and 96.1 FM The Legend. Links for both the audio and video streams as well as live stats can be found on the women's basketball schedule page at GoMocs.com.