CHATTANOOGA --- The script was flipped and winning ways made their way back to the Roundhouse as the Chattanooga women's basketball team captured a gritty 69-63 win over the Samford Bulldogs on Thursday night.
After going up by six points in the first quarter, then falling behind by as much as eight points in the second quarter, the Mocs (7-9, 2-1 SoCon) pulled up their sleeves and went to work as they battled through a tough tilt with the Bulldogs (5-13, 0-2 SoCon). The back-and-forth affair featured 14 lead changes between the two sides, with Chattanooga ultimately able to pull away late in the fourth quarter to secure the six-point victory.
"I think once we get into conference, every game is going to be a dogfight," head coach Deandra Schirmer said. "I have a lot of respect for Coach Carley Kuhns. She's a big reason why I'm in this position today. She's been a mentor for me and also a friend. I feel like when you come into a game knowing that you got a team on the other end that's going to give you their best shot, to be able to withstand some of the blows that they were able to give us – I thought they shot the ball really, really well in the first half – and to withstand that a little bit and have the stamina to finish out a game and really be able to have great situational basketball down the stretch. I'm very, very proud of this group.
Brooke Anya brought her lunch pail as she set the physical tone right from tipoff as she bullied her way in and around the paint to score the first six points for the Mocs. Aerial support came in relief for Anya as Karsen Murphy pulled up with an early first quarter three-pointer to keep the lead out of reach. The Bulldogs brought some vinegar of their own to the game as they pushed back late to end the first quarter with a one-point lead.
The second quarter picked up the scrappy play that the first quarter left off as four lead changes were featured within the first three minutes of the frame. Tides began to turn in favor of Samford as they took and built on their lead up to a game-high eight points. Caia Elisaldez put on her work boots as she fought her way to putting up eight of her 14 total points on the night as the Mocs worked to end the second quarter only down by two. Field goals were also the name of the game for Chattanooga in the second quarter as they went 9-for-16 to add up a 56.3 shooting percentage.
Although Chattanooga was able to recapture a slight lead to begin the third quarter, ties and turns remained front and center to start the backend of the match. The Mocs offense got help from some trusty weapons including a pair of layups from Gianna Corbitt, another three-pointer from Murphy, and some timely scores from Anya and Elisaldez.
Much need depth help was found in Chattanooga's bench with a clutch rebound from Takia Davis, as well as some smooth scores from Ava Card and Frode Flos van der Schans down the stretch towards the end of the game
Sigrun Olafsdottir's swiss-army style play aided Chattanooga on both sides of the ball as the veteran defender contributed with a timely block, a pair of steals and a trio of assists to force Chattanooga's will over Samford to earn the hard-fought six-point victory.
Brooke Anya's hot hand saw her total an astounding career-high 26 points on the night, adding up to more than a third of Chattanooga's 69 total points. However, SIgrun Olafsdottir had arguably the most impressive stat of the night, as the stalwart tied the program record for most career games played all-time after appearing in her 136th game in a UTC uniform.
FROM THE HEAD COACH | QUOTES
On Brooke Anya's three-point shot.
"Well, the thing is, is that she knows this, but when she shot that three, that probably wasn't our best option, but we have this running joke on the team where, if it's a bad shot, if you make it, it's not a bad shot. So I was smiling to myself, because I knew that, she knew that that was probably not the best option we had on that look. And she was like, Hey, I made it so it was a good shot. So I knew she was feeling good about that, but also, you know, proud of her. She didn't skip a beat. She was sprinting back and got on defense and was stayed locked in."
TOP TAKEAWAYS | NOTES
- Tonight's game marked the 42nd meeting between the Mocs and the Bulldogs.
- UTC leads the all-time series 31-11.
- The Mocs are 17-5 all-time when hosting Samford.
- The Mocs currently have the NCAA's longest active streak for games with a made three-pointer (792).
- Coach Schirmer went with the following starting five: Elisaldez, Olafsdottir, Murphy, Corbitt, Anya.
- The Mocs are now 4-4 this season when playing that starting lineup.
- Chattanooga currently holds the longest active streak in the entire NCAA when it comes to consecutive games with a made three-pointer.
- Dating back to December 1999, UTC has made a three-pointer in 792 straight games.
- UTC finished 47.5 percent (28-for-59) from the floor. It marks the 11th time this season that the Mocs have shot above 40 percent as a team.
- The Mocs are now 7-4 as a team when shooting above 40 percent.
- UTC was out-scored in every quarter except for the fourth quarter (22-10 in favor of the Mocs).
- The Mocs finished with a season-low 10 turnovers as a team while forcing 13 out of the Bulldogs.
- The game ended with an even rebounding margin after both teams finished with 29 boards.
- 17 assists for UTC marked the second-most for the team against a Division I opponent (most was 19 at NC Central).
- Chattanooga out-scored Samford 40-28 in the paint.
- Of the 132 combined points scored between UTC and Samford, only 10 (7.5 percent) came from off the bench.
- Brooke Anya scored a career-high 26 points after going 12-for-21 (57.1 percent) from the floor.
UP NEXT: MERCER
The Mocs will hang tight at home as UTC welcomes Mercer to the Roundhouse on Saturday, January 18 at 2 p.m. ET. Fans can follow along with the action either on ESPN+ or via WFLI 96.1 FM/100.3 FM/1070 AM.
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