UTC Women Fall to Tennessee Tech 85-58
(gomocs.com) COOKEVILLE, Tenn. — The Chattanooga women’s basketball team fell 85-58 Saturday night to Tennessee Tech in non-conference action at the Eblen Center.
After getting behind in the first quarter, the Mocs stood toe-to-toe with the Golden Eagles in the second and third quarters, but Tennessee Tech stretched its lead in the final frame.
Dena Jarrells led the Mocs with 13 points. She had two of her three 3-pointers in the second quarter, leading UTC on an 8-0 run to start the period. She added in five rebounds, three assists in the game and a team-best three steals.
Karsen Murphy was the second Chattanooga player in double figures with 10 points while Abbey Cornelius added nine and Destiny McClendon chipped in eight.
Chattanooga shot 18-of-53 for the game and was 18-of-27 from the free throw line. Jarrells had three of the Mocs four 3-pointers with Murphy knocking down the fourth.
Tennessee Tech led 23-10 after the opening frame, but UTC would put up the first eight points of the second quarter to cut that lead to 23-18 at just 1:10 into the period.
Addie Grace Porter got the action started, drawing an offensive foul to put the ball into Murphy’s hands for a 3-pointer. Jarrells stepped in front of a pass on the other end for the steal and turned that into another jumper from Murphy.
Jarrells converted a second steal into a long ranger on the other end to make it 23-18 with 7:50 to play in the second, forcing a timeout from the Golden Eagles.
After trading shots, TTU got off seven straight points to stretch its lead to 35-22 with 2:48 remaining in the first half. That difference would hold at intermission with the Golden Eagles taking a 41-28 advantage into the locker room.
The second half would see Tennessee Tech stretch its lead further. McClendon scored four of her eight points in the final period and she and Porter each had two steals.
The Golden Eagles had five players in double figures with Anna Jones leading all scorers with 17 points and nine rebounds. Maaliya Owens dropped in 15 combining with Jones for 13-of-21 from the field. Megan Clark and Jada Guinn each had 11 and Kesha Brady contributed 10 points in the effort.
TTU shot 58.9 percent for the game and was 8-of-21 from beyond the arc. Tech converted 18 UTC turnovers into 19 points while UTC had 15 points off 20 TTU miscues. The Eagles dominated the paint 46-24 and got 30 points from its bench.
Eleven of Chattanooga’s 30 rebounds came on the offensive end and translated into 11 points for the Mocs while TTU had 34 rebounds and scored nine points off seven offensive boards. Both teams had 10 steals in the game with Sigrun Olafsdottir snagging two and dished out a team-best five assists.
Chattanooga remains on the road next week with a Tuesday matchup at Tennessee State in Nashville. The game is set to tip off at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time.
