UTC Women Edge Southern Miss in Overtime

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team needed overtime to get the win Friday night at the McKenzie Arena. The Mocs came away with a 53-48 victory over Southern Mississippi in the consolation bracket of the 2015 Preseason WNIT. Chattanooga improves to 3-1 overall while the Eagles fall to 1-2 on the year.

“Winning the ugly games is what determines how good of a season you have,” Chattanooga head coach Jim Foster said. “It’s easy to win when you play pretty. It’s a lot harder to win when it’s ugly. You have to grind and figure out a way and we figured out a way.”

Junior Jasmine Joyner put together a double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds on the night and added six blocked shots to raise her career total to 209. She also had her first multi 3-point game, scoring all three for the Mocs.

“Jaz has gotten better every year,” Foster said. “Obviously the dimension we added this year is that she’s a 3-point shooter.”

Sophomore Keiana Gilbert added 12 points and five rebounds while senior Alicia Payne  had six points, four rebounds and game-high five assists. Junior Moses Johnson had seven points and six rebounds.

After trailing 37-30 at the end of three quarters, the Mocs outscored Southern Miss 14-7 in the fourth frame and carried its renewed offense into overtime. Johnson led the Mocs with five points and four rebounds in the extra period.

“I think [Moses] is very effective off the bench,” Foster said. “Some players are just better of the bench. I thought when Moses comes into games she has a lot to offer. A lot of times it is the rebounding dimension that she brings to it. She’s as good an offensive rebounder that we have.”

In overtime, USM struck first, connecting on one of two free throws for a narrow one-point lead. Joyner grabbed the rebound after the Eagles’ second missed shot from the charity stripe. UTC missed a jumper on the other end, but Johnson was there for the offensive rebound and put back to get the Mocs back out front 46-45 with 3:30 to play.

Southern Miss took its last lead of the game on a jumper from Lashyra Cotton to make it 47-46 just a minute later. Joyner would grab an offensive board and get a layup and the Mocs would hold the lead, 48-47 with 2:05 to play.

After a defensive rebounds by Payne with 1:37 remaining, she would find the bucket on the other end to give Chattanooga a 50-47 lead. USM cut it to two points as Jayla King hit the second of her two free throws to make it 50-48 with 55 seconds on the clock.

After missing a pair of free throws in overtime, Johnson got another chance at the free throw line with 11 seconds on the clock. She made both to push UTC’s lead to four points then hit her third of overtime with just three seconds left to make it 53-48.

Chattanooga outscored USM 15-4 in the opening quarter and carried that lead to the second period to get out front 17-4 with 8:06 to go in the first half. Over the final 7:59 of the second quarter, however, Southern Miss would outscore the Mocs 21-3 to take a 25-20 lead into halftime. The third frame was nearly even with the Eagles edging UTC 12-10.

The Mocs were 21-of-61 (34.4%) for the game, 3-of-17 (17.6%) from beyond the arc and 8-of-12 from the free throw line. USM was held to 29.2 percent shooting making 19-of-65 from the field.

Jerontay Clemons was 5-of-6 from the free throw line and led the Eagles with 15 points and a team-best four assists. Caitlin Jenkins recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Brittny Norris added nine points and Jayla King had eight.

The teams were even in the paint with 32 points each. Southern Miss forced Chattanooga into 20 turnovers and outscored UTC 14-8 on the miscues. While both teams had 17 offensive rebounds, the Mocs converted theirs into 14 points compared to the Eagles’ 10.

Chattanooga will head to Knoxville to take on the No. 4/5 Tennessee Lady Vols at Thompson-Boling Arena. The game is set to tip off at 7 p.m.