It was a tale of two halves for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team against Tennessee State on Wednesday night at McKenzie Arena.
Sure, UTC won both of them, but the second looked decidedly different from the first.
After a first half of porous shooting, the Mocs exploded for 28 points in the third quarter against the Tigers, making 10 of 14 shots, including all six from 3-point range. That led to a 21-point lead after three periods for a 60-31 victory and a 2-2 record early in Shawn Poppie’s first season as coach.
Yazz Wazeerud-Din finished with 25 points, all in the second half. After missing her first 10 shots — and first nine from 3-point range — the senior guard was 9-for-11 in the second half and 5-for-6 from beyond the arc.
“I wasn’t concerned because we weren’t giving up shots that we weren’t hoping for,” Poppie said. “They were taking shots that we were wanting them to take. We’re going to score, the lid is going to come off at some point. It’s a little nerve-wracking, but we got going.”