Mocs jump ahead, cruise past Liberty
Wednesday night’s performance by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team ensured that Thanksgiving would be especially happy. The Mocs jumped to an early lead and cruised to a 75-60 win over Liberty University at McKenzie Arena.
The Mocs (3-2) got contributions from up and down the bench, with 13 players seeing action and 10 scoring. The outcome was especially heartening following Monday’s 74-59 loss at Virginia Tech.
“This was very important for us because we were coming off a loss, and this is big motivation for us right now,” sophomore guard Mya Long said. “We really needed this as a team.”
Long scored 13 points while freshman Eboni Williams led the Mocs with 15 points. Redshirt senior Shelbie Davenport (10) and junior Lakelyn Bouldin (11) also scored in double figures. The Mocs shot 46.3 percent from the field, including 9-for-18 on 3-pointers, and were 16-for-20 from the free-throw line.
UTC — with freshmen Abbey Cornelius and Morgan Hill making their first collegiate starts — jumped on the Lady Flames from the beginning with Davenport and Bouldin combining for 17 points to build a 23-13 lead after the first quarter.
The Mocs kept up the pressure in the second quarter, holding the Lady Flames (1-3) to four points and taking a 36-17 lead into the break.
“I just think it was a good team win, first of all,” senior guard Molly Melton said. “This is the first game we were all kind of on the same page and clicking, so it was a lot of fun to be out there today.”
UTC coach Katie Burrows cautioned her team at halftime against complacency, and Long kept Liberty from having a chance at the upset by scoring nine of her points in the third quarter with a 3-for-3 performance from 3-point range.
“When we went in the half, we just reminded them how easy it is to lose a 20-point lead,” Burrows said. “I kept reminding them that it just takes a few shots and they’re back in it. So I challenged them to put four quarters together.”
Despite scoring only a single point with a free throw in the fourth quarter, senior Melton was a force for UTC with five steals, five assists and four rebounds while directing the action on offense and defense.
The Lady Flames were led by 21 points from Emily Lytle, but the sophomore did most of her damage in the fourth quarter when Liberty outscored UTC 29-19 as Burrows got her bench some valuable playing time. Keirra Johnson-Graham was the only other Liberty player in double figures with 14 points.
The Mocs play Saint Louis and Central Michigan this weekend in the Virginia Cavalier Classic.
Contact Jim Tanner at JFTanner@gmail.com. Follow him at twitter.com/JFTanner.