Having been dominant in Southern Conference play, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team found itself in an unfamiliar position Saturday.
A tight game.
The Mocs held on for a 58-55 home win over UNC Greensboro, but they were outscored 24-8 after building a 19-point lead and had to get a stop on the final possession of the game.
UTC (11-8, 5-0) had defeated its first four league opponents by an average of 17.5 points.
"They're a very athletic team," UTC junior Keiana Gilbert said. "They have a lot of energy and put a lot of effort into when they play. We matched that in the first half, but in the second half their energy was still there but ours had went away, and when they started to come back, we just laid back. We didn't respond."
Chelsey Shumpert led four Mocs scorers in double figures with 13 points, adding four assists. Queen Alford had 11 points, while Jasmine Joyner and Gilbert each scored 10. Joyner had seven rebounds, five blocks and three assists, while Gilbert led the team with nine rebounds.
The Mocs had 19 points off 13 UNCG turnovers that helped them build a 50-31 lead midway through the third quarter, but the Spartans - who had executed well throughout the game - started to eliminate their mistakes and in turn made a run. They scored the final 10 points of the third quarter as part of a 16-2 run to cut the UTC lead to 52-47 with 6:45 to play in the game.
"We stopped moving the ball, and they made some shots," UTC coach Jim Foster said. "The back end of our zone started to ball watch and we gave up five field goals. It was some mental mistakes, but hopefully with film session that will disappear."
Shumpert banked in a 3, but that was answered with 3s by Alexus Willey and Shanese Harris, the latter cutting the lead to 55-53 with 3:08 to play. The teams traded baskets, and then after a Shumpert free throw with five seconds to play, the Spartans were able to get one last possession but Harris missed a short layup at the buzzer that still wouldn't have been enough to win.
"We relaxed," Shumpert said. "Coming down the stretch, we were a little too comfortable. They picked up the intensity and never gave up, and we didn't respond to that.
"Later on down the road, we're going to have to get that together."
UNCG's Bailey Williams led all scorers with 20 points, making six of nine 3-pointers. That tied the McKenzie Arena record for an opposing women's player. Harris had 14 points.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.