BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- Chattanooga's bench could not be contained as Brooke Hampel put up the game winning shot with just 0.4 seconds left in double overtime at Samford Monday night in Southern Conference women's basketball action.
 
"I thought we were going to get a technical for storming the court," Mocs head coach Katie Burrows said.
 
Chattanooga got the stop on the other end to grab a 71-69 win over Samford on the Bulldogs' home court.
 
"We got big stops when we needed to and they got some good looks and we only gave them one," Burrows said. "That's the key. We got some box outs."
 
Abbey Cornelius got two of those stops with two defensive rebounds in the second overtime and had a put back on the other end to put the Mocs up 69-67 with 1:14 remaining in the game.
 
Natalie Armstrong tied the game for Samford, 69-69, with 52 seconds to play. On the other end, Cornelius' 3-point attempt fell short and Andrea Cournoyer got the rebound and headed down the court. With the game clock and shot clock just seconds apart, Samford waited on the shot. Cournoyer passed to Shauntai Battle in the corner, but her shot would not get off in time and the turnover went to the Mocs with 4.0 seconds on the clock.
 
Chattanooga advanced the ball and Sigrun Olafsdottir stood in front of her bench, guarded closely. Her first throw in was deflected, taking 0.3 seconds off the clock. Her second attempt found Cornelius at the elbow. Cornelius turned and passed to a driving Amaria Pugh on the right side of the lane. However, Samford's defense kept Pugh from getting a handle and the ball tipped to Hampel waiting on the left side, unguarded under the basket. She quickly gathered the ball and banked in the shot with 0.4 seconds left and the Mocs bench erupted in jubilation.
 
"I've been telling them to stay patient," Burrows said. "Stay patient and you're going to be rewarded and they were."
 
The Mocs evened its double-overtime record at 2-2 and are 25-23 all-time in extra periods. UTC improved to 3-14 overall and 1-1 in conference play while Samford falls to 5-10 on the year and 0-1 in its SoCon opener. This game was originally slated for last Thursday but was postponed due to COVID-19 protocols within the Samford program.
 
Pugh led four Mocs in double figures with a season-best 18 points. She added seven rebounds and four assists in the win. Hampel had 15 points, six rebounds and matched her career-high with five assists. Abbey Cornelius recorded her fifth double-double of the year with 10 points and 13 rebounds while Sigrun Olafsdottir dropped in 10 points and matched her career-best with eight boards.
 
"Every little bit counts," Burrows said. "Same number of shots made and same number of shots taken. We made one more 3-pointer and one more free throw. Same number of rebounds."
 
Both were 27-of-72 (37.5%) from the field while Chattanooga was 9-of-28 from deep and 8-of-13 from the free throw line.
 
The Mocs dished out a season-high 18 assists led by Olafsdottir with six and had a season-best 45 rebounds.
 
Cournoyer, the SoCon leader in scoring and 3-pointers made, led Samford with 17 points and just one 3-pointer, a dagger that forced a second overtime. Sussy Ngulafec had 13 points and 11 rebounds and Battle had 11 points for the Bulldogs.
 
The Mocs scored 18 points on 17 Samford turnovers and gave up 11 on 15 miscues.
 
"We had 10 turnovers at the 6:27 mark of the second quarter," Burrows said. "We had 10. Then we turned it around and only have five the rest of the game including two overtime periods. That right there is what I'm going to harp on to our kids. We took care of the ball. And we had 18 assists. We shared the ball."
 
The Mocs trailed by as much as 12 points in the second quarter but cut it to a four-point game by halftime, trailing the Bulldogs 32-28 at the break.
 
Samford pushed its lead to 36-28 to start the second half, but the Mocs battled back, getting as close as three twice, but the Bulldogs went on an 8-2 run to lead 47-38 with 1:19 to go in the third.
 
Hampel started the fourth with a 3-pointer to make it 47-43. Samford pushed the lead back to seven points, 51-44 at the 7:38 mark. That would be the largest difference the rest of the way.
 
Chattanooga got as close as one point twice and a free throw from Cornelius with two seconds to play, tied the game 60-60.
 
Chattanooga will close out its five-game road stand this Saturday at ETSU. The game is set to tip off at Noon at Brooks Gym. Tune in to GoMocs.com to follow all the action.