The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team received a combined 38 points from senior guard Jada Guinn and sophomore forward Raven Thompson on Friday night, when the Mocs held on to defeat Austin Peay 57-52 at F&M Bank Arena in Clarksville, Tennessee.
The Mocs (2-0) are home for their next game, facing Marshall (0-1) at 2 p.m. Sunday at McKenzie Arena.
Thompson finished with 20 points and seven rebounds. The 5-foot-10 Thompson, last season's Southern Conference freshman of the year, continued her hot start from 3-point range by shooting 3-for-6 from behind the arc. Guinn added 18 points, four rebounds and three assists.
The Mocs trailed for only 43 seconds in the game and led by as many as 12 points, but the Governors (0-2) battled back to tie at 42 in the third quarter.
UTC again built an advantage, going up 52-46 on a free throw by Addie Porter — who played all 40 minutes — with a minute to play. She made another free throw after Austin Peay cut the lead to two, and Guinn added four free throws for the final margin.
"That's a gutsy win," UTC coach Shawn Poppie said on the postgame radio broadcast. "For us to find a way to win on the road and while we played pretty ugly ourselves because we're still learning ourselves, I think we learned we're tough."
A season ago, it was Austin Peay that earned the five-point victory, using a late 3-pointer and some key free throws down the stretch to win 58-53 at McKenzie early in Poppie's first season. This year, it was UTC's turn to spoil a potential home win.
UTC starters combined for 54 of the team's 57 points, with only freshman guard Hannah Kohn's 3-pointer coming from the bench. Karsen Murphy had eight points and three rebounds, while Porter had three points, six rebounds and three assists.
"We've got to find some depth," Poppie said. "We're about to turn around and play a team on Sunday that wants to play up and down.
"But I'm proud of this group. They found a way to win, and while it was ugly, that's OK. "
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.