Every move the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball coaching staff made Wednesday paid off.
As a result, they got a big win to show for it.
Jasmine Joyner led three players in double figures with 20 points, and the Mocs shot 54 percent on their way to a 77-61 win over Samford at the Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham, Ala.
UTC (7-8 overall) won their Southern Conference opener, and will next travel to Mercer Saturday for another tough road game. They started early, building a 10-point lead in the first six minutes of the game and holding a 23-12 lead after a quarter.
The Bulldogs (6-9, 0-1) fell behind by as many as 15 points before cutting the halftime deficit to seven. They continued to rally in the third quarter, cutting the lead to 49-47 after an Ellen Riggins layup with 1:45 to play in the period and trailing by only three (52-49) heading into the final period, but the Mocs used a 10-0 run over a 2:38 stretch to start the fourth and the lead never dipped below double digits the rest of the way.
UTC assistant coach Katie Burrows said on the postgame radio broadcast that the staff wanted to try to disrupt Samford’s offense, so they played a variety of zones to throw the Bulldogs off early and it worked.
“We had to make some adjustments because they were killing us on the high-post pass,” Burrows said. “We threw a lot at the girls, but they did a great job of communicating and being where they need to be.”
The bench was utilized as well. Moses Johnson came off the bench and made all five of her shots, including a pair of 3s in a 12-point effort. Sydney Vanlandingham, Shelbie Davenport and Aryanna Gilbert all had solid performances off the bench, with Gilbert handing out a team-high five assists.
The team made 17 of its 19 free-throw attempts and handed out 14 assists. Joyner added nine rebounds and five blocks to her point total, which was a season high. Her block total was her ninth multi-block game this season.
Chelsey Shumpert played all 40 minutes, scoring 19 points and handing out four assists.
“They cut the lead to one point, but I was never worried because we had the intensity we needed,” Burrows said. “We were really clicking tonight on a lot of different things.
“I think we’re coming together at the right time.”
Hannah Nichols led the Bulldogs with 16 points. Samantha Fitzgerald had 15, while Brittany Stevens scored 10.
Former Gordon Lee standout Kassidy Blevins had three points, but team highs in rebounds (five) and assists (five).