UTC Women Grab Second Win of the Year After Downing UNC Asheville 62-51
(gomocs.com)
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The Chattanooga women’s basketball team put together a pair of runs to start each half and led wire-to-wire Monday afternoon at The McKenzie Arena, defeating UNC Asheville 62-51 in non-conference action. Chattanooga got off to a 14-0 start and led 20-6 at the end of the first half shooting 69.2 percent in the opening frame.
“It was incredibly important to get off to that start,” Mocs head coach Katie Burrows said. “The entire first half was huge.
“We put an emphasis on [UNCA’s Nadiria] Evans and [Kai] Carter. We knew those two were going to be the focus. I felt like we did a good job of smothering them.”
The pair combined for 21 points, well below their average 33.4 points per game. They were 8-of-30 from the field. Carter had both 3-pointers and Evans was 3-of-4 from the free throw line.
Brooke Hampel led off the game with a 3-pointer from the corner and Dena Jarrells capped off the opening run with a 3-pointer of her own to make it 14-0 just under four minutes into the game. Chattanooga was 6-for-6 in the run and closed out the period shooting 9-of-13 (62.9%). Three of UTC’s four misses were from deep.
The Mocs hot shooting continued in the second with UTC making 6-of-12 (50%) from the floor and leading 33-22 heading into intermission.
A second run that started with a layup from Jarrells at the end of the second quarter stretched into the third for a 17-1 advantage, pushing the Mocs lead to 48-23, their largest of the game. UNCA started the quarter making 1-of-2 from the free throw line and UTC scored the next 15. Jarrells had nine points for UTC in the sequence and the Mocs were 8-of-15 from the field.
Chattanooga shot 48.3 percent (28-58) for the game, a season-best for made field goals and had just three chances at the free throw line.
Jarrells led all scorers with a career-best 19 points, making 8-of-11 from the field including a pair of 3-pointers. Abbey Cornelius recorded her third double-double of the year with 12 points and a season-best tying 16 rebounds. Hampel, who experienced early foul trouble, was 6-of-6 from the field with 13 points in just 16 minutes on the floor.
“She is finding her offensive ‘swag’, Burrows said. “At Vanderbilt I challenged her. I told her that when she got the ball, she needed to look to score.”
The Bulldogs shot just 30.5 percent (18-of-59) for the game and missed their first six chances and had a pair of turnovers. Carter had a couple of 3-pointers late and led UNC Asheville with 12 points. Evans had nine points and four rebounds. The Bulldogs were 11-of-16 from the charity stripe and had four treys.
Chattanooga outrebounded UNC Asheville 38-33 and dominated the paint 42-18. Olafsdottir had more than half of the Mocs’ 13 assists. The two teams combined for 40 miscues with each team scoring 14 points off turnovers.
Asheville falls to 5-6 overall. The win snaps the Mocs nine game skid and puts UTC at 2-11 on the year heading into its post-holiday matchup against #7 Tennessee on December 27 in Knoxville.
The game pits coach against player, a first for the two head coaches. Lady Vols’ head coach Kellie Harper was an assistant coach under Wes Moore for Burrows’ final three seasons as a student-athlete.
The pair combined for a 78-16 (.830) overall record and went 50-6 (.893) against the SoCon. That included UTC’s longest win streak of 27 games in 2003-04 that ended with the Mocs’ win over Rutgers in the 2004 NCAA Tournament first round. UTC also ran the table on the SoCon that season with a league-record 20 win and no losses.
