UTC Women Beat East Carolina in Seahawk Classic

WILMINGTON, N.C. — University of Tennessee at Chattanooga sophomore Keiana Gilbert had a game-high 21 points and led the women’s basketball team to a 72-61 win over East Carolina Friday afternoon in Game One of the Seahawk Hampton Inn Christmas Classic.

The Mocs improve to 7-4 overall while the Pirates fall to 6-4 on the year.

Gilbert was 7-of-13 from the field and drained a pair of 3-pointers. She had six rebounds and five assists in 39 minutes. Junior Moses Johnson recorded her second straight double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. She was 5-of-11 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line.

“Keiana has taken some steps and strides towards being a very, very good basketball player, who has a lot of different dimensions,” Chattanooga head coach Jim Foster said. “Today, she scored 21 points, had six rebounds and five assists, but she also guarded the other team’s best player. That player was leading the team in points, but she had three or four points under what she averages.

She had to work for those 18.

“Keiana was not only providing us scoring, she was providing us playmaking, and on the defensive end, I thought she did a very good job."

Both teams played it pretty close through three quarters with the Mocs never getting out by more than five points. It would be the fourth quarter that would prove the difference for Chattanooga.

Gilbert and Johnson combined for 15 of the Mocs 27 fourth quarter points with sophomore Ansley Chilton nailing a 3-pointer with 4:04 to play giving the Mocs its largest lead at the time, 59-52. UTC went on to outscore the Pirates 10-4 over the next 1:47 to push its lead to 69-56 on a pair of free throws from Johnson with 2:02 remaining in the game.

In the fourth quarter, the Mocs shot 70 percent from the field and were 12-of-17 from the free throw line. UTC was 25-of-48 (52.1%) for the game and 18-of-27 from the charity stripe.

In the paint, Chattanooga edged the Pirates 34-30 in the paint and outrebounded ECU 33-29. Chilton and junior Queen Alford (Decatur, Ga.) combined for the Mocs’ 12 bench points with Alford scoring seven points and pulling down eight rebounds.

"Ansley Chilton came in and played a big-time shot,” Foster said. “We know she can shoot that shot. I thought Queen Alford did a terrific job on the defensive boards and helped Moses Johnson."

Junior Jasmine Joyner was the Mocs’ third player in double figures with 10 points in 31 minutes. She was 4-of-6 from the field and added seven rebounds and two blocked shots. Senior Alicia Payne had nine points on the day with five assists and three steals.

Jada Payne was one of four ECU players in double figures, leading her team with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Khadidja Toure drained 5-of-6 from the free throw line and had 13 points and five boards. I’Tiana Taylor added 12 points and five rebounds while DeVaugh Gray had 11 points, three assists and a pair of steals.

East Carolina shot 40.7 percent on the day making 22-of-54 and was 13-of-21 from the charity stripe.

Chattanooga will take on host UNC Wilmington Saturday afternoon in the final game of the Classic. The game is set to tip off at 2 p.m.