A disappointing season for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team came to a disappointing finish for the Mocs on Thursday night, when they lost 70-63 in overtime to Furman in the opening round of the Southern Conference tournament in Asheville, North Carolina.
The Mocs went 7-23 in 2021-22, the worst record in program history.
UTC junior Abbey Cornelius, back from an injury that cost the team’s leading scorer and rebounder this season six games, scored a career-high 26 points in the finale, with 15 of those in the fourth quarter. The 6-foot-2 All-Southern Conference second-team selection made 11 of 15 shots, grabbed nine rebounds and chipped in a pair of blocks.
Brooke Hampel added 10 points for the sixth-seeded Mocs, while Sigrun Olafsdottir had eight points, seven assists and five rebounds in a team-high 38 minutes. Freshman point guard Addie Porter, who stands 5-4, had a team-high 10 rebounds and scored seven points.
Third-seeded Furman (18-11) beat UTC for the third time this year – the Paladins won 63-50 on Jan. 29 in Greenville, South Carolina, and 64-43 on Feb. 24 in Chattanooga – and advanced to Friday’s semifinals to face second-seeded Wofford (17-12) at 1:15 p.m. Wofford won 66-54 earlier Thursday against seventh-seeded East Tennessee State (6-22).