Davis leads UTC to exhibition win

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team exhibited a lot of potential and a lot of room for improvement Thursday night at McKenzie Arena.

In an exhibition game against Lee University, Cleveland native Michelle Davis, in her first action since transferring to UTC last fall, scored a game-high 19 points against her hometown school in the Lady Mocs' 86-53 win. The 6-foot-2 redshirt freshman also had seven rebounds in 30 minutes off the bench.

"She did some things offensively better than she's done in practice," Lady Mocs coach Wes Moore said.

Reigning Southern Conference player of the year Shanara Hollinquest added 13 points and nine rebounds in 21 minutes.

The Lady Mocs have been hampered by injuries this preseason, which has forced a lot of newcomers into larger roles. Dressed in street clothes Thursday were returning starter Tagan Hatchett, along with Bailey Dewart, Kylie Lambert and Capriee Tucker -- all of whom are recovering from knee injuries.

To make matters worse, UTC forward Megan Rollins left the game with 15:54 remaining with an apparent shoulder injury. Rollins finished with nine points, four rebounds and four steals.

Of UTC's nine players in uniform, four have never played in a regular-season game: Davis, Christopher (nine rebounds), true freshman Erin Helton (12 points, four rebounds) and redshirt freshman Kiara Smith (five points), who missed all of last season following knee surgery.

The score was 24-11 when when Davis scored on three straight UTC possessions. She hit a short turnaround jumper and then was fed down low by Helton from the top of the key on back-to-back possessions.

The Lady Mocs led 32-18 at the half and were never seriously threatened in the second half. Kari Jo Harris led Lee with 13 points, and Katie Nelson added 11 and eight rebounds.

Hatchett and Lambert are expected to return in time for the Lady Mocs' opener at East Tennessee State a week from tonight.