After the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team finished a 55-40 win over Morgan State on Saturday, coach Jim Foster revealed his secret weapon in the postgame news conference.
Foster's grandsons, 7-year-old George and 5-year-old Oliver were in town with Foster's son, Christian, and joined their grandfather on the podium to discuss the Mocs' win in the opening day of the Chattanooga Christmas Classic at McKenzie Arena.
While George and Oliver proved to be the strong silent types, Coach Foster said he was happy with how his team responded against a pressing Morgan State team that was within 24-22 at halftime and held UTC to 34.8 percent shooting from the field in the first half.
"They were good defensively," Foster said of the Bears. "They're long and athletic, and we settled for the 3 too much in the first but did a much better job in the second half of mixing up our shots."
UTC (8-3) managed to do most of its damage with interior shooting, led by freshman Keiana Gilbert's 19 points and a double-double by sophomore Jasmine Joyner with 14 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocked shots.
Joyner's seven blocks were the most ever by a UTC player in a single game at McKenzie Arena -- and would have been the most by any player at McKenzie if not for eight blocks by North Carolina A&T's Eboni Ross in the opening game Saturday, a 54-49 Aggies win over Tennessee Tech. Joyner also moved into second place in career blocks for the Mocs with 101 in less than two seasons of play.
Gilbert's solid performance likewise went beyond her scoring line, as she had eight rebounds, three steals and three assists.
"We can move her around and use her in different positions," Foster said of Gilbert. "She was just effective tonight whether she made the steal and took it the length of the court or got the ball out to others. We got some easy transition baskets that she had a lot to do with."
Morgan State (2-9) was led by Braennan Farrar and Zuri White with seven points each, but the Bears shot just 25 percent from the field for the game and 22.6 percent in the second half.
Coming off Wednesday's upset win over No. 7 Stanford, UTC started slowly on offense as Morgan State used pressure to force 10 Mocs turnovers and several ill-advised shots in the first 20 minutes.
"We weren't as focused as we should have been," Gilbert said. "We were just rushing against their press and turned the ball over too much."
After the break, UTC picked it up on offense, shooting 47.8 percent in the second half and grabbing 21 rebounds. A 17-0 run midway through the period gave UTC its biggest lead at 51-30 with 4:47 to play, and the Mocs cruised from there.
Lesser-used first-year players Ansley Chilton, Sydney Vanlandingham and Anna Claire Noblit got decent playing time in both halves, and Foster said he was pleased with how they performed, particularly redshirt freshman Chilton, who had four points, three rebounds, an assist and a block in five minutes in her first appearance in a home game.
"I thought the second (half), I liked Ansley," Foster said. "I think the first time, she was in a hurry and she rushed and put herself in bad situations. The second time, she took her time and made some very nice plays."
Perhaps the most suprising shot of the game came in the first half when Joyner stepped back and knocked down her first career 3-pointer, to the surprise of the 1,479 fans watching.
"I practice it, but I never thought I'd do it in a game," she said. "At first, I thought it was a long 2, but then I heard (the public-address announcer) say '3,' and I said 'OK, I just shot a 3-pointer.'
"I was just shocked by it, but I'm not going to get big-headed about it."
Perhaps the only one not surprised by Joyner's long-range shot was her coach.
"She's one of our better 3-point shooters, truth be known," Foster said. "We do drills every day with all the players shooting 3s, and she makes a large percentage of her 3s. That's something you'll probably see more of instead of less of."
UTC plays at 2 p.m. today against North Carolina A&T (7-4), which features four players 6-foot-2 or taller and a balanced scoring attack.
"We just need to get some rest, because the team tomorrow is more athletic," Joyner said. "They're tougher and scrappier, so we just need to focus more for this game. We need to put everything that's happened -- the big wins and today's win -- behind us and get tougher and be more focused."
Contact Jim Tanner at jtanner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6478. Follow him at twitter.com/JFTanner.