UTC senior point guard Alicia Payne had 15 points and four assists in Thursday's quarterfinal win over Western Carolina in the Southern Conference tournament.ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Jim Foster wasn't pleased with the defense his University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team was playing early in Thursday's Southern Conference quarterfinal game against Western Carolina. So he asked the Mocs to play better.
They listened.
The Mocs held the Catamounts to one field goal in the final 5:15 of the first quarter and 29 percent shooting in the second stanza, giving them a 14-point lead at the break. UTC threw in a 19-2 run to start the third quarter and cruised to a 74-56 win at the U.S. Cellular Center to advance to a semifinal today at 1:15 p.m.
"I thought we took care of the ball," Foster said. "I thought early on, we were casual and we addressed their casualness. We stopped being casual and played with a lot more intensity, a lot more enthusiasm and a lot more communication."
UTC (22-7) will face Samford, which defeated Wofford 63-43 in a later quarterfinal.
The Mocs received a combined 50 points from Queen Alford, Keiana Gilbert and Alicia Payne. Alford had 20 points, while Gilbert added eight rebounds and four assists to her 15 points.
Of the seven primary rotation players, six have experience playing in Asheville. That helped as the Mocs never seemed rattled and were able to stretch the lead to 31 points in the third quarter.
"I think being experienced in the tournament helped us out a lot today," Gilbert said. "We know what to expect and how the environment will be. We can just go out and play like we usually do."
Payne had 15 points, five rebounds and four assists. Jasmine Joyner was held to nine points but had five rebounds, three blocks and three steals.
The Mocs trailed 9-6 at the first media timeout, but Gilbert hit a 3-point basket on the first possession out of the timeout. That was followed by a putback by Alford, and the Mocs never trailed the rest of the way.
The Catamounts (7-22) were led by Kyia Hough's 14 points. They turned the ball over 20 times, which led to 25 UTC points.
"It's unfortunate that, for the powerful first season we had, that it had to end in such a disappointing loss here," Western Carolina coach Stephanie McCormick said. "The girls came out, were a little flat and not as energetic, and we got in a little hole."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.