As the clocked ticked down below 15 seconds Monday night at McKenzie Arena, Michelle Davis had a layup to tie and missed. Then Jenaya Wade-Fray missed a short jumper. Then Kayla Christopher buried a game-winning 3-pointer.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga freshman guard capped a career night with a 3 from the top of the key with 3.3 seconds left to lift the Lady Mocs to a 57-55 win over Georgia Southern. Christopher scored a career-high 18 points and also grabbed nine rebounds as UTC won its fifth straight game.
“It’s pretty cool,” Christopher said of hitting the game-winner. “It’s a big game, so I knew we needed a win; it was very important for us to win the game, so I did what I needed to do.”
Christopher and senior forward Shanara Hollinquest carried the Lady Mocs (10-6, 5-2 Southern Conference) in the second half. The duo combined to score 24 of UTC’s 31 second-half points. Hollinquest, who had a game-high 19 points and 12 rebounds, scored the Lady Mocs’ first 11 points of the second half to keep UTC close after the Eagles (7-7, 2-3) tried to take control of the game.
The game was tied at 20 with 9:38 to play in the first half when Georgia Southern went on an 11-3 run and later took a 31-26 advantage into halftime. The Eagles then pushed their lead to 35-26 early in the second half before Hollinquest and Christopher shouldered the scoring load for UTC.