ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The stats are what they are.
But in this case, the stats are slightly flawed.
The Mercer women’s basketball team found that out Sunday.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga started the Southern Conference championship game with an onslaught of 3-pointers, making six of its 11 first-half attempts. The Mocs missed their first four 3s of the second half, but the last one taken – from the corner by Queen Alford – was a dagger, giving them a six-point lead with 1:30 to play.
They went on to win 65-57 at the U.S. Cellular Center and claim their fourth consecutive conference tournament championship.
The six 3s made in the first half ties for the most UTC made in a single half this season, matching the six in the second half against Tennessee on Nov. 29 in Knoxville.
Since a 1-for-9 showing at Samford on Jan. 23 – a span of 11 games – the Mocs have made at least five 3-pointers 10 times. They failed to reach that mark in 10 of the 11 games prior to that.
The Mocs haven’t lost since they added that wrinkle to their attack. They’ve made 61 of 166 from 3-point range in the last 11 games, an average of 37 percent. That clip has raised the team’s average from 28 percent for the season to 31.
“We’ve sneakily become a good 3-point shooting team,” UTC coach Jim Foster said Sunday. “If you look at the 3-point stats from the little blip we had in the middle of the conference season, you see we’re significantly better as opposed to our overall (average).”
It wasn’t just the shots being made, but who was making them Sunday. Senior guard Alicia Payne and sophomore forward Aryanna Gilbert hit two each. They had combined to make 24 3s all season.
“If you look at the stats, those are two of the least likely ones to hit,” Mercer coach Susie Gardner said. “During the time between the first and second quarter, I told my team, ‘We’re not playing bad defense – they’re hitting almost every shot.
“Hitting 3s is contagious, and it became contagious for them. The first quarter hurt us, because I thought we played pretty good defense that quarter.”
UTC’s added confidence started in practice. Foster said some players have been able to spend extra time shooting prior to practice or just on their own time, and that along with some tweaking of shooting forms by the coaches have led to the bump in the players’ percentages as of late.
“The confidence I have now is a huge reason I’m making most of the shots I’m taking,” sophomore Keiana Gilbert said. “Confidence is what I lacked at the beginning of the season, because I didn’t shoot much.
“I’m more confident in taking certain shots now and believing they’ll go in.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.