JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - The Mocs kept the winning feeling going as they defeated ETSU 53-41 on the road on Saturday for their seventh in a row, and third consecutive to start SoCon play. Chattanooga bounced back from an 11-point first-quarter deficit to eventually win by double-digits itself. It's the Mocs fourth win this season when trailing by 11 or more points.

In what has become a theme recently for this team, it was Chattanooga's defense that was the star performer. 41 points is a season low that any Division I team has scored against Chattanooga this season, and the Mocs have now held all three SoCon opponents they have played so far in the 40s.

Additionally, Chattanooga held ETSU to just 23.3% (14-60) from the field and 15.8% (3-19) shooting the deep ball, both of which are season lows against Division I opponents.

Gianna Corbitt registered her fourth double-double of the year and second consecutive double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Caia Elisaldez also had 13 points and six rebounds for the Mocs. Chattanooga's final player in double-figures was Izzy McPherson with 11 points off the bench.

Records
Chattanooga: 11-5, 3-0 SoCon
ETSU: 7-11, 0-3 SoCon

Gianna Corbitt sank a pair of baskets, including a triple, on Chattanooga's opening two possessions to immediately put the away side up 5-0. However, the Bucs responded with a 15-0 run across nearly five minutes of gametime to all of a sudden go up 10 points.

 Ava Card ended the scoring drought for the Mocs, before a 3-pointer by ETSU put it up 18-7 at the 3:06 mark of the quarter. This was the Bucs' largest lead of the game. In the closing minutes of the quarter, Chattanooga had some better offensive execution, cutting the deficit to 21-13.

With the help of a switch to a zone defense that threw ETSU off, Chattanooga held the home side scoreless for the first five minutes of the second quarter. This allowed Chattanooga to ride a 9-0 run, capped off by an inside basket from Card to give it a 22-21 lead. The Mocs held the Bucs to just four points in the quarter, the fewest points a team has scored against the Mocs in a quarter this season.  

Later on with the Mocs trailing by one point, McPherson scored six points in a row, using a layup while being fouled, before knocking down a triple to put Chattanooga ahead again. Going into the intermission, the Mocs led 28-25.

Chattanooga scored the first four points of the third quarter, thanks to buckets from McPherson and Elisaldez. ETSU was held almost three minutes scoreless out of halftime. As the quarter progressed, the Chattanooga lead reached as much as nine points at the 1:17 mark, however a 7-2 run by the Bucs cut it back to six at 40-34 going into the fourth quarter.

A layup as the shot clock expired from Frode Flos van der Schans, kick-started a 7-0 run for the Mocs to start the fourth quarter, putting them ahead 47-34. For the rest of the game, ETSU didn't get closer than 10 points as Chattanooga pulled out a 53-41 win.

Chattanooga moves to 71-25 all-time against ETSU and have won eight in a row in the series.

Head Coach Deandra Schirmer
"For our team to, you know, come out, and I think we gave up 21 points in the first quarter, and then the rest of the game, only give up 20. Yeah, I think that just speaks for itself for us to be able to lock in. Obviously, we have got to come out and play better in the first quarter, but credit to ETSU, they're a tough team. They play hard. They never are defeated."

Caia Elisaldez, Jr., Guard
"Our defense is what's carrying us. Coach D, all of our coaches are huge defensive coaches. They always say defense wins games. I mean, you hear every coach say that, but I think our coaches take that so deeply and they make sure that we know, like, we're not just going to roll the balls out and go win a game. We need to fight for it. We need to be gritty. And that came from defense."

UP NEXT: Chattanooga travels to UNCG on Thursday, January 22 to take on the Spartans. Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m.

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