Katie Burrows Wins Coaching Debut as Chattanooga Downs Lee University

(gomocs.com) CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The Chattanooga women’s basketball team held off a late rally by Lee Tuesday night at The McKenzie Arena and came away with a 61-55 win over the Lady Flames in the head coaching debut of UTC’s Katie Burrows.

“We know Lee is a very good program. Being Division II doesn’t matter,” Burrows said. “They’re very disciplined on both ends of the floor. Fortunately we were a little bit stronger and a little bit quicker so we were able to get to the rim.”

Freshman Abbey Cornelius hit a layup with 2:33 to play to give the Mocs’ their largest lead of the game at 59-45. Lee cut deeply into that margin with a 10-0 run over a 1:31 period to make it 59-55 with 35 seconds remaining. Junior Lakelyn Bouldin iced the game on a the final two of her seven free throws to close out the game.

The Mocs had three in double figures led by Bouldin who scored all of her 13 points in the second half.

“She only took a couple of shots in the first half,” Burrows said. “She was getting out of her rhythm a little bit so I pulled her out and let her refocus.”

That helped the Mocs’ top returning scorer. She was 3-of-9 from the field and made 7-of-8 from the free throw line in her 29 minutes on the floor.

“Coming back out in the second half, she was one of the better ones getting it to the hole.

Arianne Whitaker and Brooke Burns each dropped in 10 points. Whitaker was 4-of-6 from the field with a pair of free throws and had four blocked shots. Burns had four field goals, including a 3-pointer and led the Mocs with seven rebounds.

Chattanooga shot 50 percent in each of the first three quarters and was 21-of-45 (46.7%) for the game. The Mocs outrebounded the Lady Flames 33-28 and each team dished out 14 assists.

In the first quarter, the Mocs held Lee to just 3-of-13 from the field and used a 7-0 run to pull out to a 12-4 lead. UTC would push that lead to double figures as the second quarter drew to a close. Whitaker scored all 10 of her points in the second quarter, outdueling the Flames 10-5 over a near four-minute stretch.

Lee started the third quarter on a 12-6 run and got to within three points of the Mocs at 34-31 midway through the period. Chattanooga responded with a 10-0 run to make it 44-31 and the two would play near even the remainder of the frame. Chattanooga went into the final quarter with a 51-39 lead.

The Mocs had 17 turnovers in the game, but after fumbling the ball 11 times in the first half, UTC cut in nearly in half in the final 20 minutes with just six in the second.

“We really did a much better job in the second half if you’re looking for improvement from one half to the next,” Burrows said.

Tonight’s game was the season-opener for the Mocs but was an exhibition for the Lady Flames who open their season at Florida Southern College Friday night in the GSC/SSC Challenge in Saint Leo, Fla.

The Mocs will get ready to host fifth-ranked Louisville Friday night at the McKenzie Arena.