FORT MYERS, Fla. --- A late push from Chattanooga women's basketball wasn't enough on Saturday night in Fort Myers, as the Mocs ultimately fell 61-53 to Florida Gulf Coast in the team's final game at the FGCU Homewood Suites Tournament.
The Mocs at one point trailed by as much as 15 points to the Eagles, but UTC battled its way back to a one-point third quarter deficit to remain in the game. The late push by Chattanooga was ultimately thwarted, however, with three-point shots falling for FGCU in the fourth quarter to help the Eagles escape with a win on their home floor.
"My thing is, in a learning process, in a team right now that we've got, we're trying to learn and build and grow," head coach Deandra Schirmer said. "Offense is a big confidence boost. When you're not hitting shots, a lot of times you can have the frustration fouls that we've had. You can have a lot of that undisciplined stuff that comes in to play.
"I feel like that's what we saw in the first half. We're frustrated, we're not hitting stuff wide open offensively. So then we're fouling on the back end. I felt like in the second half, we did a good job of being disciplined on that.
"It's all a learning process. I feel like we've learned a lot of lessons so we're ready to start putting those to use. As a team and a program, we're hungry for a win. We're looking forward to the next game to kind of prove ourselves."
The Eagles came out of the gates swinging for the fences, with FGCU opening the day with a 6-0 scoring run over the opening 3:14 of action. UTC's first points wouldn't come until the 6:05 mark of the first quarter when Caia Elisaldez hit on a pair of free throws. This would help spark Chattanooga's offense, however, with the Mocs working the score back to 6-6 with 4:17 left in the frame.
FGCU continued to maintain their advantage though, finding a response to every UTC equalizer down the stretch. The Eagles would carry a 19-15 lead into the second quarter, but that would soon get blown up into a 15-point advantage with UTC's offense struggling to put a run together.
Freshman Gianna Corbitt helped provide a much-needed spark for the Mocs, hitting some big-time shots including a clutch three-pointer with 0:39 remaining in the half to help bring it back down to single-digits. Elisaldez would scoop in one last layup to beat the buzzer of the half, and suddenly the Mocs only trailed the Eagles 38-31 at the halftime break.
To open the second half, the Mocs traded blows with the Eagles, not giving up an inch to FGCU. The teams swapped buckets, but UTC still couldn't get over the hump as the third quarter ticked away.
A basket by Elisaldez followed by a pair of Karsen Murphy free throws then saw the Mocs trailing by just one point, 42-41, with 57 seconds left in the third. A quick flurry from Florida Gulf Coast saw the Eagles take a 46-41 lead into the final quarter. The Mocs were still down, but they were far from out of it.
The Mocs continued to hang with the Eagles for much of the fourth quarter, but as three-point shots continued to fall for FGCU, Chattanooga was running out of answers. The Eagles ended up pulling ahead 61-53 with over a minute left to play, and that would remain the score up until the final buzzer. UTC ended up wrapping up its weekend in Fort Myers empty handed, with the Mocs finishing 0-2 at the FGCU Homewood Suites Tournament.
Karsen Murphy paced the Mocs with 15 points, while birthday girl Gianna Corbitt and sophomore Caia Elisaldez followed closely behind with 13 and 10 points, respectively. Corbitt also led the Mocs in steals (4) and blocks (1), playing in a career-high 36 minutes.
Elisaldez finished her night with a team-leading six assists, matching her season-high in the stat. Kailyn Farrell rounded out the UTC stat leaders by posting a season-best seven rebounds off the bench for Chattanooga.
FROM THE HEAD COACH | QUOTES
On playing with a shallow bench.
"We got outplayed tonight from an offensive standpoint, and that keeps happening. I thought Penn outplayed us from an offensive standpoint. So as a coaching staff we've got to look at that. We've got to score more than 53 points and we've got to find ways to do it. I feel like we found little pockets. We found ways to get Caia [Elisaldez] some looks. We've got to do a better job of finding some other things we can do, that we can score in. I feel like down the stretch we're trying to manufacture points from the bench, getting them in to set plays, and then when you get a wide open look and we over pivot and travel or get a jump ball, they just need more experience."
TOP TAKEAWAYS | NOTES
- This was the third meeting all-time between Chattanooga and FGCU.
- The series now stands at 2-1 in favor of the Eagles.
- The last time these two teams have met came on Dec. 17, 2017 in Chattanooga (Mocs won 68-61).
- The Mocs are now 0-2 when playing on the road against FGCU.
- Both teams finished shooting 46 percent from the floor (Mocs were 21-for-46, Eagles were 23-for-50).
- UTC finished 45 percent from three (5-for-11) and 86 percent from the free throw line (6-for-7).
- Only three of UTC's 53 points came from off the bench.
- The Eagles never trailed in the game. FGCU led for a total time of 36:02.
- The Mocs lost the turnover battle to the Eagles, 17-14.
UP NEXT: KENNESAW STATE
Chattanooga will now have over a week to rest and prepare for their next matchup, which is set for Sunday, December 8 at McKenzie Arena, when Kennesaw State is set to come to town. Tipoff against the Owls is slated for 2 p.m. ET and will serve as Camper Appreciation Day, the team's Holiday Game and as an Ugly Sweater Beanie giveaway. The game against KSU can be caught on ESPN+ and over the radio on WFLI 96.1 FM/100.3 FM/1070 AM or The Varsity app.
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