The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team lost 59-49 to Princeton on Thursday in the final game of the Gator Holiday Classic in Gainesville, Fla.
The Mocs, 8-5 for the season but 8-2 since mid-November, with two wins over Southeastern Conference teams, will host Hampton next Thursday.
Still using only eight players due to various injuries, UTC was somewhat lethargic in the first half, making 28 percent of its shots and trailing by 11 points at halftime.
Princeton (9-3), the No. 12 mid-major program in the country, started the second half with a 13-3 run to build a 21-point lead before the Mocs – trying to shake off the effects of three games in five days with a limited bench – started to rally. The Tigers’ lead was down to 10 (46-36) after three quarters, and the Mocs closed to within seven points on an Arianne Whitaker free throw with 5:10 remaining, but they got no closer.
UTC coach Jim Foster admitted afterward that the team is needing some depth to return. The Mocs have lost Nakeia Burks to a knee injury for the season and have three guards and a forward out with injuries.