The good version of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team built a 10-point halftime lead Sunday against Bowling Green.
The bad version nearly lost it.
The Mocs led by 16 points in the third quarter before the Falcons closed the gap to two in the fourth, but UTC held on for a 54-49 win in the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame Challenge in Louisville, Ky.
UTC (3-2), which beat Lafayette College 68-43 on Saturday afternoon, finishes the three-day event with a game against host No. 5 Louisville at 7:30 tonight.
Jasmine Joyner led the Mocs in points (12), rebounds (14), assists (four) and steals (three) while blocking a school-record nine shots Sunday.
“Jaz will come out and play hard every single day,” UTC assistant coach Brittany Johnson said on the postgame radio broadcast. “She won’t let up. She’s right there helping out.
“It’s good she steps up and does that, because we need it.”
Queen Alford had 11 points, while freshman Lakelyn Bouldin added nine.
UTC led 30-20 at halftime and had a 41-25 advantage after a 3-pointer by Bouldin with 2:44 to play in the third quarter, but Bowling Green (0-4) scored 10 straight points as part of a 16-2 run that cut the gap to 43-41 on a 3-pointer by Carly Santoro with 8:34 to play.
Joyner got one of the points back when she was fouled and went 1-for-2 at the line, then after four consecutive defensive stops, Bouldin hit her second 3 of the game to provide a six-point edge with 5:36 to play.
The Falcons twice got within three points, but Chelsey Shumpert scored on a layup and hit two free throws with 10 seconds to play to provide the final margin.
“We came out strong,” Johnson said. “But then we quit moving the ball and attacking the basket. Bowling Green went on a run and we kind of froze and didn’t do the things that were working.
“Bowling Green is going to fight to the end, and we just let up. We can’t do that, especially when we play Louisville tomorrow. We have to keep attacking.”
Santoro led the Falcons with 17 points, and Sydney Lambert added 11.