BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team opened Southern Conference play Wednesday night with a 77-61 win over Samford at the Pete Hanna Center. The Mocs never trailed in the game and improve to 7-8 overall. Samford drops to 6-9.
 
Jasmine Joyner (Southaven, Miss.) and Chelsey Shumpert (Paducah, Ky.) each scored season-highs and combined for 39 of the Mocs' points. Joyner had 20 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds. Shumpert was 8-of-8 from the free throw line with 19 points in the game. Senior Moses Johnson (Atlanta, Ga.) had a season-high as well with 12 points, making all five of her attempts from the field.
 
The Mocs started quick with a 15-5 lead just over halfway through the opening period. After a jumper from Ellen Riggins halted a 10-0 run by UTC, the Mocs put together a 12-5 run to get out front 27-12 less than two minutes into the second quarter.
 
Samford regained its balance and outscored Chattanooga 18-10 over the remainder of the period cutting the Mocs' lead to seven points at 37-30 at the half.
 
The Bulldogs edged Chattanooga 19-15 in the third quarter, getting as close as one point, 46-45, at the 3:17 mark of the period and trailed the Mocs 52-49 after 30 minutes. The fourth quarter would belong to the Mocs, however, who shot 66.7 percent in the frame, including a 75 percent effort from the 3-point line. Chattanooga started the fourth quarter on a 10-0 run behind five points each from Shumpert and Johnson. The Mocs would keep their lead in double figures the remainder of the game.
 
Chattanooga was 26-of-48 from the field, its second best shooting performance of the year at 54.2 percent, and shot 47.1 percent from beyond the arc, making eight 3-pointers. Behind Shumpert's eight free throws, the Mocs were 17-of-19 (89.5%) on the night, tying the most made by UTC this season.
 
In the paint, UTC outscored the Bulldogs 30-16 and scored 16 points off nine Samford miscues. Chattanooga's bench contributed 20 points in the win and the Mocs' has 12 fast break points.
 
Joyner had five blocked shots in the game, moving her to 18^th all-time in the NCAA in the category. She has 373 for her career, averaging 3.55 per game.
 
Samford had three in double figures led by Hannah Nichols with 16. Samantha Fitzgerald contributed 15 and Brittany Stevens had 10.
 
Chattanooga will travel to Macon, Ga., Saturday to take on Mercer in a 2 p.m. matchup. Follow all the action online at GoMocs.com.