With his Mocs holding a lead late in Monday's game at Indiana, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball coach Jim Foster told them that if they were going to be a good team this season, they were going to have to "finish."
They found a way.
Led by 27 points from Keiana Gilbert, the Mocs improved to 2-3 for the season with a 64-61 win over the Hoosiers - UTC's first defeat of a Power Five conference opponent since starting last season with a win at Rutgers.
The Mocs (2-3) travel to Nashville this weekend for the Challenge in Music City Classic. They play Northwestern on Friday before games with Georgetown and Auburn to end the weekend.
Gilbert added seven rebounds and three blocked shots Monday. Lakelyn Bouldin scored 13 points, while Molly Melton had 10 points and two assists. Melton and Gilbert played all 40 minutes.
Aryanna Gilbert had four rebounds and a pair of steals.
The Mocs shot 46 percent from the floor for the game.
"We just spaced the floor, spread the floor," Foster said on the postgame radio broadcast. "They couldn't stay in front of us off the bounce. We just took advantage of those opportunities, and whoever had a mismatch would take it into the paint, to the basket for a layup."
An 8-0 run that started at the end of the third quarter and carried into the fourth helped the visitors build a 51-42 lead, but the Hoosiers responded with a 8-1 spurt to cut the margin to two. The Mocs were able to hold the Hoosiers at bay, making 9 of 13 foul shots in the final period, but Indiana was able to cut the lead to three in the final moment.
A Tyra Buss 3-point miss secured the win for UTC.
Buss's 17 points led the Hoosiers (3-1), and she added 10 assists. Kym Royster had 16 points, while Amanda Cahill added 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.