The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team lost in heartbreaking fashion Thursday night, giving up two 3-pointers in the final five seconds to fall 67-66 to Bellarmine in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Mocs (4-7), who have lost four in a row, visit 24th-ranked Nebraska (9-1) at 1 p.m. Eastern on Sunday.
UTC’s fourth-quarter struggles at Bellarmine (9-2) started before the excruciating final moments.
The Mocs led by as many as 12 points in the second half, and they were up 55-44 on a pair of Brooke Anya free throws with 8:35 remaining, but then turnovers — the team’s Achilles’ heel for much of this season — flared up again. The Mocs lost possession that way nine times in the final 10 minutes and went 5:39 without a point, allowing the Knights to go on a 12-0 run to take the lead.
The visitors settled back in and assumed control again, with a pair of free throws by Sigrun Olafsdottir giving the Mocs a seemingly safe 66-61 lead with eight seconds to go, but Bellarmine’s Erin Toller hit a 3-pointer, which was followed by a UTC turnover in the backcourt that led to Toller hitting another 3 with one second to play.