MOCS STREAK SNAPPED SATURDAY AT FURMAN

(GOMOCS.COM) GREENVILLE, S.C. — The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team fell 65-48 at Furman Saturday afternoon in Southern Conference action. The Mocs are now 12-9 on the year and 6-1 in league play while the Paladins improve to 12-11 overall and 4-2 against the conference.

The Mocs were 17-of-52 (32.7%) on the day, shooting just 2-of-16 in the fourth quarter. Senior Jasmine Joyner (Southaven, Miss.) recorded her seventh double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Chelsey Shumpert (Paducah, Ky.) was 3-of-7 from beyond the arc for a team-high 13 points with three assists.

Furman’s Le’Jzae Davidson hit a 3-pointer midway through the second period to tie the game 14-14. Cierra Carter followed that with a layup less than a minute later and the Paladins would never trail again.

Furman outscored UTC 12-4 over the next 4:41, but back-to-back 3-pointers from junior Keiana Gilbert (Pulaski, Tenn.) and Shumpert at the end of the half cut the Paladins lead to 26-24 at intermission.

The third quarter saw the Paladins build up a 12-point lead, 41-29 with 5:16 to go in the period. The Mocs, however, battled back with a 12-5 run to make it 46-41 with 1:54 remaining in the third. Furman pushed its lead back to double figures just over a minute later, 51-41, and led by nine at the end of three.

The Paladins went on to outscore UTC 14-6 in the final period, snapping a 10-game Chattanooga win streak against Furman. The loss also snapped the Mocs’ seven-game win streak and a 14-game SoCon regular season streak.

Gilbert added nine points and eight rebounds with three blocked shots.

Chattanooga will return home next week to host Mercer Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in the first game of a double-header. The Bears defeated Samford Saturday and are now tied with the Mocs for first in the conference standings. Chattanooga beat Mercer 74-56 in Macon, Ga., earlier this year.

The Mocs will be celebrating Academic Night Thursday. Faculty and staff who show a valid MOCS ID card will gain free admission to the game. Mocs Maniacs t-shirts will be given away to students at the game. For tickets and more information, log onto the official Chattanooga website at GoMocs.com.