Lady Mocs pick up three commitments

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team has picked up three commitments this month for next year's team, including a pair of Tennessee Miss Basketball finalists.

Taylor Hall, a 6-foot-1 small forward from Morristown West High School, was all-state and a Class AAA Miss Basketball finalist last season after averaging more than 20 points and 10 rebounds a game.

Hall, who listed Western Kentucky among the other schools she considered, said it was really a one-horse race from the start.

"I pretty much narrowed it down to UTC from the beginning," she said. "I felt like I would fit in best there, and I like the coaches and the players."

Alexandria Black of Harding Academy in Memphis also has committed to the Lady Mocs, who won their 10th consecutive Southern Conference regular-season title last season. The 5-5 guard averaged 14.8 points per game last season and was a Division II Class A all-state pick and Miss Basketball finalist. In the spring she won a state championship in the long jump with a leap of 18 feet, 5 1/2 inches.

Black is coached at Harding by former UTC assistant Becky Myatt Starks.

Also committing to the Lady Mocs is 5-6 guard Meghan Downs, a GISA all-state player at Arlington Christian in Fairburn, Ga. Downs led the Eagles to a state championship last season and also won a state title in the long jump.

Downs said she also had interest from Western Kentucky, Georgia Tech and Western Carolina, among others. One of the reasons she picked UTC was the Lady Mocs' style of play.

"I like the four out (on the perimeter), one in (the paint) that they use, being able to drive in and dish," she said. "I was really impressed with how fast they play and how fundamentally sound they were."