UTC Women Pull Away to Beat the Coyotes of South Dakota

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — University of Tennessee at Chattanooga sophomore Chelsey Shumpert drained a trio of 3-pointers in the second half to help the Mocs pull away from South Dakota Monday afternoon at the Convocation Center to claim the UTSA Holiday Classic title with a 67-54 win over the Coyotes.

Shumpert’s first 3-pointer of the game knotted the contest 7-7 with 15:06 to go in the first. She followed that with a pair of free throws and Chattanooga never trailed again. UTC built up a double-digit lead in the opening frame with a 23-7 run to get up 27-14 with 7:20 remaining in the period.

That would be the Mocs last jumper until Shumpert drained her second trey of the half with under a minute to go. The Coyotes went on a 12-0 run in the Mocs’ drought to get to within a point, 27-26, with 1:31 until intermission.

Shumpert’s basket gave Chattanooga a slight four-point cushion at the break.

The Mocs started the second half on an 11-0 run and outscored South Dakota 20-6 over the first 6:48 of the half for their largest lead of the game, 50-32 with 13:12 to play.

Sophomore Jasmine Joyner started the scoring in the half while a pair of turnovers and steals along with three straight shots put the Mocs up by 13 less than two minutes into the frame. Joyner capped off the 11-0 run she started with another layup to make it a 41-26 matchup.

The Coyotes continued to chip away at Chattanooga’s lead, but could not get any closer than seven in the waning minutes of the game. The Mocs led by double-figures most of the second half.

This is Chattanooga first game in five tries to top the 60-point mark and its first opponent in as many games to top the 50-point mark. UTC improves to 11-3 overall and will be on the road to Harvard next week.

Shumpert was 7-of-13 for the game for a career-high 21 points and matched her career-best for 3-pointers with five in the game. She also dished out four assists and had three steals. Freshman Keiana Gilbert had 13 points in the game with four steals while sophomore Jasmine Joyner had 11 points and six blocked shots.

Senior Destiny Bramblett and junior Alicia Payne added eight points apiece. Payne led the Mocs with six rebounds and added four assists and two blocked shots. Senior Ka’Vonne Towns made all six of her free throws in the minute of play for six points and five rebounds along with four assists.

Margaret McCloud was the lone South Dakota player to crack double figures with 13 points. She was 4-of-6 from the field and 5-of-7 from the free throw line. Lisa Loeffler, Raeshel Contreras and Bridget Ahrens each added eight points while Loeffler had a game-high eight rebounds.

South Dakota outscored UTC 36-24 in the paint but the Mocs scored 24 points off 24 Coyote turnovers compared the South Dakota’s 15 points off 17 Chattanooga miscues. The Mocs had eight fastbreak points while USD had none and the Coyotes held a 20-8 scoring advantage off the bench.

Chattanooga will remain on the road with a trip to Boston to take on Harvard. It will be the first meeting between the two teams. The game will be Monday, Jan. 5 at Harvard.