Brooke Anya has been the consummate teammate throughout her first season at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
If she’s not in the game when one of her fellow Mocs scores a basket, the 6-foot graduate transfer from Hofstra — she played in all 32 games for the Pride last season after three years at Longwood — will sprint down the sideline, high-fiving every single UTC teammate, coach and manager on the bench.
But it was her turn Thursday night at McKenzie Arena, where Anya scored a career-high 26 points — including her first 3-pointer since Feb. 8, 2023 — as the Mocs took over in the fourth quarter to defeat Samford 69-63, securing their third win in the past four games.
“Tonight felt great,” said Anya, who also had six rebounds, three steals and a block in her 25 minutes. “It’s a lot of stuff that happens behind the scenes, and we’re celebrating all the time. It just so happened that everybody got to see it today, but we’re a team that celebrates every little moment for every single person on this team because in order to win we need everybody — not just one person.”
The Mocs, who improved to 7-9 overall and 2-1 in the Southern Conference, will play the second matchup of a three-game homestand when they host Mercer at 2 p.m. Saturday. The Bears (6-11) are 1-1 in the SoCon after opening their league schedule with a 56-53 home win against Samford last Saturday before losing 70-46 at East Tennessee State on Thursday.