UTC Women Open SoCon Play With 53-40 Win Over Wofford

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — University of Tennessee at Chattanooga junior Queen Alford scored 12 fourth quarter points to lead the Mocs to a 53-40 win over Wofford at the Benjamin Johnson Arena in the Southern Conference opener for both teams. Chattanooga improves to 10-5 overall and 1-0 in SoCon play while the Terriers fall to 5-9 on the year and 0-1 in league action.

Alford was 4-of-4 from the field in the frame, including a pair of 3-pointers, and was perfect from the free throw line, making both attempts. She was 8-of-9 for the night and led all scorers with a season-high 20 points.

“She [Alford] got a lot of confidence by scoring around the basket,” Chattanooga head coach Jim Foster said. “We posted her up a lot. When you make baskets, it gets a little easier to take a three. Once she made the first, she took her time on the second one.”

Chattanooga took an early 13-4 lead in the first quarter and expanded it to 11 points at intermission with a 25-14 advantage. However, the Terriers held UTC to 0-of-6 in the third quarter and led for nearly four minutes in the period, getting ahead 30-27 on a layup by Kentra Washington with 1:22 to go in the quarter.

The Mocs made three of its four free throws at the end of the third to tie it up 30-30 with one quarter left to play.

"We were over dribbling and trying to make things happen instead of moving the ball and taking advantage of opportunities,” Foster said. “We had a number of post-up opportunities and Keiana Gilbert could go into the lane or on the perimeter and get the shots that she likes. But we were trying to make things happen.  They were packed into the lane and you can’t drive into traffic.”

Wofford retook the lead briefly at the start of the fourth quarter on a steal by Jordan Frazier that led to a fast break layup. However, the Mocs responded with 15-2 run started by Alford with a layup to tie it 32-32 at the 8:02 mark of the frame and capped off by the first of her two 3-pointers to put Chattanooga comfortably in the lead 45-34 with 3:20 remaining.

After a pair of free throws by the Terriers cut the lead to nine, Alford sank the second of her 3-point attempts and Chattanooga would go on to claim its 49^th consecutive Southern Conference regular season win.

“Our defense allows us to stay close when we struggle offensively,” Foster said. “It allows us to stay within striking range. They got a little bit of a lead on us. Then all of the sudden we were up double figures."

Sophomore Keiana Gilbert  had 14 points, three assists and three steals. Senior Alicia Payne added eight points and had a huge block in the third quarter while junior Jasmine Joyner had a team-best eight rebounds and four assists.

Wofford was led by Kentra Washington who had 16 points and 10 rebounds. Grayson Pinholster added eight points and three blocked shots. The Terriers were 15-of-50 from the field and 0-for-18 from beyond the arc while connecting on all 10 of their free throws.

Chattanooga remains on the road to take on Furman Saturday at 3 p.m. on ESPN3. The Paladins even out their record at 8-8 with a win over ETSU Thursday night in Greenville.