UTC 66, ETSU 42
ETSU (16-13, 8-6 SoCon)Dean 0-3 0-0 0, Bridges 1-9 2-3 4, Christopher 2-6 3-4 8, Tarter 4-10 2-4 10, Schurr 5-6 0-1 10, Vaughan 0-1 0-0 0, Lytton 0-0 0-0 0, Kendrick 3-6 0-0 6, Tipps 0-2 0-0 0, McNeese 1-2 0-0 2, Rodriguez 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 17-46 7-12 42.UTC (21-7, 12-2)Joyner 9-15 3-4 21, Payne 3-5 2-3 9, Alford 0-5 2-2 2, K. Gilbert 6-10 5-6 19, A. Gilbert 5-5 0-0 11, Noblit 0-0 0-0 0, Melton 0-0 0-0 0, Vanlandingham 1-3 0-0 2, Johnson 0-3 0-0 0, Burks 0-1 0-0 0, Chilton 0-1 0-0 0, Wert 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 24-49 13-17 66.Halftime—UTC, 27-20. 3-point goals—ETSU 1-11 (Christopher 1-4, McNeese 0-1, Tarter 0-2, Bridges 0-4); UTC 5-13 (K. Gilbert 2-3, A. Gilbert 1-1, Payne 1-2, Vanlandingham 1-2, Joyner 0-1, Johnson 0-1, Chilton 0-1, Alford 0-2). Rebounds—ETSU 27 (Tarter 7); UTC 30 (Joyner 10). Assists—ETSU 7 (Christopher 4); UTC 16 (Joyner 4). Turnovers—ETSU 14 (Christopher 3, Tarter 3); UTC 7 (Joyner 2, Johnson 2). Blocks—ETSU 1 (Tipps); UTC 7 (Joyner 5). Steals—ETSU 2 (Vaughan, Kendrick); UTC 7 (K. Gilbert 2, A. Gilbert 2). Total fouls—ETSU 19, UTC 12. Fouled out—none. A—2,372.
It was a game, until it wasn’t.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team trailed East Tennessee State by three points after a quarter but dominated the next two periods on the way to a 66-42 Southern Conference win Saturday in front of 2,372 fans at McKenzie Arena.
The win gave the Mocs (21-7, 12-2) a share of their fourth consecutive league championship. They tied with Mercer for the title, and with the Bears holding the tiebreaker edge UTC will be the second seed in this week’s conference tournament in Asheville, N.C.
UTC will play either Wofford or Western Carolina at 4 p.m. Thursday at the Asheville Civic Center.
The Mocs outscored ETSU 14-4 in the second quarter, when the Bucs had eight turnovers and were only 1-for-4 from the floor. UTC made half of its 12 shots and scored seven points off ETSU’s turnovers.
“We got more aggressive on defense,” UTC coach Jim Foster said. “We made it difficult on them to get shots. They got some easy shots early on and we had to make some adjustments, and we did. Once we got in transition, we knew our post players were quick. Then when they had to go with a smaller lineup, we had two opportunities because we could get Jaz (Jasmine Joyner) an early look, then we had guards with mismatches and we took advantage of those opportunities.”
Alicia Payne, the team’s only senior, had nine points, three rebounds and two assists in her final game at McKenzie. She banked in a 3-pointer from 25 feet out to end the third quarter, giving the Mocs a 52-32 lead.
Joyner finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds, five blocks and four assists to lead the Mocs in all four categories. Keiana Gilbert scored 19 points and added eight rebounds, while her sister Aryanna had 11 points and hit all five of her shots.
The Bucs (16-13, 8-6) made only 10 of their 31 shots in the final three quarters. They were led by Tianna Tarter and Malloree Schurr, who each scored 10 points. Shamauria Bridges, the team’s second-leader scorer, was limited to four points on 1-for-9 shooting.
“We just got tougher after the first quarter and tried to guard our own men,” Payne said. “I think it helps our offense when we’re really solid on defense.
“It’s exciting for us to win another SoCon (title). It was cool this year because we faced a lot of adversity and had a lot of injuries, but we had people step up and play different roles than they were used to. It’s special for us to have been able to overcome everything.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.