The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team allowed just two shots outside of the paint Saturday night against Austin Peay, but the latter of those was a 3-pointer from the wing by freshman Anala Nelson that put the Lady Governors ahead in a 58-53 win at McKenzie Arena.
It was the second straight heartbreaking defeat for the Mocs (1-2), who led for more than 38 minutes Wednesday but fell 56-54 at Belmont, ranked as one of the top 10 mid-major programs in the country.
Maybe the narrow losses are steps in the right direction, but first-year head coach Shawn Poppie was more frustrated by something other than the result — the effort.
"We have to play harder," he said. "We talk about our energy and our effort ever day. That's worth eight points, right? We didn't have it tonight. We lose by five; give us eight points with energy and effort, you win the game."
The Mocs were led by 19 points and nine rebounds from senior forward Abbey Cornelius, who also had three steals. Raven Thompson added 10 points and eight rebounds, and Yazz-Wazeerud-Din — who averaged 20 points in the first two games — finished with nine points. Amaria Pugh scored seven, all in the final period, but UTC was bothered by Austin Peay's constant pressure, turning the ball over 17 times.
Cornelius hit a pair of free throws with 1:48 to play that put the Mocs up 51-50, but they got caught in a bad rotation that left Nelson wide open on the wing. Mariah Adams, who led all scorers with 20 points, hit a runner in the lane, and the Mocs managed just one putback by Thompson the rest of the way against Austin Peay (2-0).
"These are games that we should have won. We just let them slip away from us," Cornelius said. "We have a lot of learning opportunities and have to get back to work and take some pride in what we represent."
UTC hosts Tennessee State at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The Tigers are 1-1 and host Division II program Trevecca Nazarene on Monday before coming to Chattanooga.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.