DAVIDSON, N.C. — The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team led wire to wire Monday night at Belk Arena, but there was nothing easy about the Lady Mocs’ 64-62 Southern Conference win over Davidson.
Every time UTC threatened to pull away for good, the Wildcats fought back. The lead got as high as 14 points in the second half before Davidson rallied again and had a couple of chances to tie the game with less than a minute left.
“It’s Davidson, so you know they’re always going to play hard and keep fighting,” said UTC coach Wes Moore, whose Lady Mocs (12-6, 7-2) have won seven games in a row.
Monday’s win moved UTC into first place in the SoCon standings, a half-game ahead of Davidson (8-8, 6-2) and the College of Charleston (11-5, 6-2).
“There’s a lot of basketball still to be played, but this was a big win for us,” Moore said.
Down 61-58, Davidson’s Alex Thompson stole the ball from Kayla Christopher and the Wildcats called a timeout with 44.3 seconds remaining. Sophia Aleksandravicius then missed a jump shot, but Kristen Johnsen grabbed an offensive rebound. Thompson’s 3-pointer was off the mark and Davidson got another offensive rebound.
After Chloe Woodington missed a 3, UTC’s Jenaya Wade-Fray grabbed the rebound and was fouled. The senior then hit a pair of free throws to push the lead to 63-58 with 24 seconds remaining.
Aleksandravicius scored on the ensuing possession to make it 63-60, and Christopher hit one of two free throws to seal the win before Barbara Sitton scored with less than a second left.
Shanara Hollinquest had 15 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Lady Mocs. Christopher had 12 points and five rebounds, and Michelle Davis added 11 points. Ashley Lax led Davidson with 17 points.
Kiara Smith hit three 3-pointers in the first half to help UTC to a 30-16 lead, but Davidson closed the half on a 6-0 run to cut the margin to 32-26.
The Lady Mocs return to McKenzie Arena on Saturday to host Western Carolina at noon. The game will be televised on SportSouth.