UTC women punish Paladins in 66-43 SoCon victory
UTC women punish Paladins, earn 66-43 SoCon victory
It should come to no surprise of anyone, but a focused University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team is a very good team.
The Mocs showed that Thursday.
Led by 18 points from Lakelyn Bouldin, another double-double from Jasmine Joyner and a defense that stiffened after the first quarter, UTC cruised to a 66-43 victory over Furman at McKenzie Arena.
It was a 40-point turnaround from the teams’ first meeting, a 65-48 win by the Paladins on Jan. 28 in Greenville, S.C., as the Mocs improved to 17-10 and 11-2 in the Southern Conference, tied with Mercer for first in the league.
“We came out hungry,” Joyner said. “We had energy, played together and focused. At times we take possessions off or don’t play all four quarters, but we have to bring our best game and continue to play like us.”
If the Mocs defeat Wofford on Saturday, they will have the top seed in next week’s conference tournament regardless of what Mercer does at Samford. That’s because of UTC’s season sweep of the Bears.
Joyner finished with 15 points, 15 rebounds, four assists, no turnovers and four blocks for her 11th double-double of the season, fourth consecutive and seventh in eight games. Keiana Gilbert finished with eight points and five rebounds, while Chelsey Shumpert had seven points, five assists and four rebounds.
Furman (14-15, 7-6) led 12-10 after a quarter and took a fivepoint lead on a 3-pointer by Le’Jzae Davidson on the first possession of the second quarter. UTC answered with a 13-0 run to assume control and led 31-22 at halftime.
“We had to adjust on defense,” UTC coach Jim Foster said. “We were energetic on defense, but I think the energy was going into our shots. We started to take our time and get good shots; the ball was moving the way we want to, and when that happens, at some point it’s going to kick in.
“Good stuff started to transpire as a result.”
The Paladins responded in the third quarter, cutting the lead to 38-36 after a pair of Cierra Carter free throws, but backto-back 3s by Bouldin followed by a Joyner putback capped a 8-0 run over the final 1:17 and put the Mocs in control.
Bouldin was 4-for-9 from 3-point range, matching her season high in conference competition for 3-pointers made.
“I stayed confident and looked for my shots,” she said. “I know my teammates are going to find me; it’s my job to make it count. It’s a mental thing when shots aren’t falling, but you’ve got to shoot through it.
“When you make a couple, the rim gets a lot bigger.”
Carter led the Paladins with 15 points. Davidson was 4-for-9 from 3-point range and scored 13.