The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team in the third quarter Friday night looked nothing like it did in the first half.
And for the Mocs, that was a good thing.
UTC scored 26 points in the third against on the way to a 70-62 Southern Conference win against East Tennessee State University at Brooks Gymnasium in Johnson City. The Mocs (15-9, 9-1) maintained their one-game lead in the SoCon standings over Mercer, which UTC has already swept.
Jasmine Joyner led UTC with 18 points and 16 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season. She was 8-for-9 from the field and made both of her free throws, and she also blocked two shots. Freshman teammate Lakelyn Bouldin scored 12 of her 14 points in the second half, while Keiana Gilbert had 10 points, four rebounds, two blocks and two steals while playing all 40 minutes.
The Mocs shot 58 percent from the field against the Buccaneers (14-11, 6-4), including an 11-for-14 performance in the third quarter that included a 4-for-6 showing from 3-point range. The 26 points were one more than they scored in the entire first half, and the defense was equally impressive, limiting the Bucs to 3-for-19 shooting while building a 51-39 lead headed into the fourth quarter.
"We were tentative. We weren't aggressive in the first half," UTC coach Jim Foster said on the postgame radio broadcast. "The second half was a completely different story. Lakelyn was playing too fast; Chelsey (Shumpert) did not want the ball in her hands and let token pressure take it out of her hands. Keiana was not assertive we can go all the way down the line. In the second half, it was a complete change."
The Bucs led 31-25 at halftime and stretched that lead to eight points in the first minute of the third quarter on a Mallorree Schurr jumper. UTC answered with a 17-1 run - Queen Alford, Bouldin and Shumpert made 3s during the spurt - and held ETSU without a basket for 5:39.
The Bucs rallied in the final period, cutting the lead to 53-49 after a Shamauria Bridges-led spurt, but the Mocs answered with a 12-2 run and held on from there.
Bridges finished with 24 points, Raven Dean added 12 with seven rebounds and Tianna Tarter - the league's leading scorer - was held to 11. The trio combined to shoot 36 percent from the floor.
The Mocs next play Thursday against UNC Greensboro in the second of three consecutive road games.