ASHEVILLE, N.C. — What goes into making a good team or a good player a great team or player? Perhaps it’s recognizing the flaws in an outstanding game and working to get even better.
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga post player Jasmine Joyner had a career day Thursday in the 17th-ranked Mocs’ 78-44 win over UNC Greensboro in the opening round of the Southern Conference basketball tournament. The sophomore scored a career-best 22 points and added 10 rebounds in just 23 minutes of playing time, but her first comments to the media were about how she needed to improve on her 4-for-12 free-throw shooting.
“It would have been a career night if it wasn’t for my free throws,” she said. “I couldn’t have really done it without my team passing the ball on pick-and-rolls and getting me to spots where I could put it back up. I couldn’t have done this without my teammates.”
Against the Spartans’ full-court press, Joyner was able to get lots of good open looks and putbacks, finishing 9-of-10 from the field, and she blocked four shots to boost her season total to 122. She was joined in double figures by Chelsey Shumpert with 13 points and Destiny Bramblett with 10, and every active player on the UTC roster scored in the win.
UTC (27-3) started fast, scoring the first 10 points of the game with a putback by Joyner and two 3-pointers by Shumpert included, but the Spartans pressure kept the the game fairly close and forced the Mocs into 12 first-half turnovers and 20 for the game.