Gilbert, Chattanooga Mocs stun No. 4 Lady Vols 67-63

photo UTC's Keiana Gilbert (20) makes a shot against Tennesee Wednesday at McKenzie Arena.

Sometimes lightning does strike twice in the same place.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team came into Wednesday night's game against fourth-ranked Tennessee ready to play, and the Mocs dominated the Lady Vols in the first half, held on in the second half and defeated the Lady Vols 67-63 in front of 4,160 fans at McKenzie Arena.

Senior Ka'Vonne Towns hit two free throws with 2.7 seconds remaining to seal the biggest win of the UTC portion of coach Jim Foster's Hall of Fame career.

Lady Vols coach Holly Warlick dropped to 0-2 on UTC's home court, having also lost her head coaching debut to the then Wes Moore-directed Mocs in 2012.

"I thought UTC was on top of their game, and I thought our offense affected our defense," Warlick said. "We missed layup after layup after layup and decided not to defend anybody."

Freshman Keiana Gilbert scored a career-high 27 points for UTC (4-2) and made a big block in the final seconds to preserve the victory. Fifth-year senior Destiny Bramblett added 12 points, and the Mocs shot 53 percent from the floor for a team that lost five key seniors from last season.

Jasmine Jones led Tennessee (4-1) with 19 points -- 16 of those in the second half -- and Ariel Massengale scored 11.

After Tennessee opened the scoring, Mocs guard Chelsey Shumpert hit a free throw followed by a 3-pointer and baskets by Aryanna Gilbert and Jasmine Joyner to give UTC an 8-2 lead. It was 37-21 at halftime, after Keiana Gilbert scored 14 points and continually drove hard to the basket.

"I just felt like the people that were setting screens were setting good screens for me," she said. "So I could just hesitate and then run through the switch."

"It was great experience. We just had to go out and act like Tennessee was any other team and play like we usually do, but it felt great to win."

In the first 20 minutes, UTC outglassed Tennessee 19-12 and shot a blistering 58.3 percent from the floor while holding the Lady Vols to 31 percent. Tennessee won the rebounding battle for the game 35-30, but UTC's defensive pressure clearly caused problems for a Lady Vols team that had not faced a tough game so far this season.

Tennessee opened the season with four home games against relatively light competition, while the Mocs had faced two games against Big East teams and a tough game at No. 3 Notre Dame. UTC looked tougher early on.

"We were not aggressive in South Bend, but I think we learned a little bit about ourselves," Foster said. "We've had some tough practices and very demanding practices. We challenged them, and I think they responded in kind."

The Mocs' opening period was even more impressive considering they played with two key players in foul trouble. Jasmine Joyner picked up her second foul less than four minutes into the game, and Aryanna Gilbert had her second with 13:14 remaining in the half.

Instead of folding with those two on the bench, UTC continued to pour it on the Lady Vols. Moses Johnson gave UTC quality minutes off the bench, scoring eight points and grabbing eight rebounds.

"I thought they controlled the tempo of the game," Warlick said of the Mocs. "They didn't quick-shoot the basketball, they got deep in the shot clock, and we got anxious at times. They were dribbling right past us like we weren't even on the court.

"My hat's off to them. They played an outstanding game. I don't know what Coach Foster's game plan was, but I'm sure they followed it to a T."

Joyner picked up her third foul less than a minute after the intermission, and Jones and Massengale helped the Lady Vols creep back into the game.

Massengale cut the Lady Vols' deficit to three with eight minutes to go, but the Mocs responded to lead 57-51 on a Joyner layup. Jones cut it to 57-55 for UT, and the Lady Vols tied it at 57 on a Jones putback with 4:30 remaining.

"Basketball is a game of runs," UTC junior guard Alicia Payne said. "Tennessee is a good team, and we knew at halftime that they were going to come back out and try to win this game. But we just stayed focused and did a good job, and our coaches told us to remember to play our type of basketball."

The Mocs and Lady Vols traded baskets down the stretch, and two Graves free throws tied the game at 63 with a minute to play.

Payne gave UTC a one-point lead, hitting one of two free throws, and the Mocs defense forced Warlick to call time out with three seconds remaining on the shot clock and 26.2 seconds remaining in the game.

Joyner grabbed the rebound and was fouled by Graves with 14.8 remaining. Joyner made one of the two free throws, giving UTC a two-point lead with 8.6 remaining. Keiana Gilbert's block and Towns' free throws set off the celebration, proving Foster's emphasis on strong defense was the deciding factor in another historic win for UTC women's basketball.

"You have to play defense with the way the game is called today," Foster said. "If you're patient, you can get great opportunities, and I think we did that.

"We took care of the ball, got it into the half court and took advantages of opportunities."

Contact Jim Tanner at jtanner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6478. Follow him at twitter.com/JFTanner.

Upcoming Events