UTC 72, East Carolina 61
East Carolina (6-4)Gray 4-6 2-3 11, Taylor 4-15 4-6 12, Laramie 1-3 0-0 2, Toure 4-9 5-6 13, Payne 7-15 1-3 18, Frazier 2-3 0-1 4, Csutoras 0-3 1-2 1, Holston 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-54 13-21 61.UTC (7-4)Joyner 4-6 2-4 10, Payne 4-8 1-2 9, K. Gilbert 7-13 5-9 21, Johnson 5-11 5-6 16, Burks 1-3 2-2 4, Alford 2-3 3-4 7, Chilton 2-3 0-0 5. Totals 25-48 18-27 72.Halftime—UTC, 32-31. 3-point goals—ECU 4-11 (Payne 3-5, Gray 1-1, Laramie 0-1, Frazier 0-1, Csutoras 0-1, Toure 0-2); UTC 4-10 (Gilbert 2-2, Chilton 1-1, Johnson 1-3, Joyner 0-1, Burks 0-1, Payne 0-2). Rebounds—ECU 29 (Payne 10); UTC 33 (Johnson 10). Assists—ECU 7 (Gray 3); UTC 10 (Payne 5, Gilbert 5). Turnovers—ECU 13 (Toure 4); UTC 14 (Joyner 3, Payne 3, Burks 3). Blocks—ECU 2 (Gray, Laramie); UTC 2 (Joyner 2). Steals—ECU 7 (Gray 2, Toure 2, Csutoras 2); UTC 6 (Payne 3). Total fouls—ECU 20, UTC 16. Fouled out—Gray.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team won 72-61 over East Carolina on Friday in the first game of the Seahawk Classic at UNC Wilmington.
The Mocs (7-4) will face the host school today at 2.
Keiana Gilbert scored a game-high 21 points for UTC and also had six rebounds and five assists. Moses Johnson had her second consecutive double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Jasmine Joyner scored 10 points, added seven rebounds and blocked two shots.
Alicia Payne had nine points and five assists.
The Mocs shot 62 percent (13-of-21) from the field in the second half, continually getting good shots against East Carolina's press.
"We needed to be of the mindset of running offense for longer periods of time, because teams that play defense that way want quick results and the longevity of possession often is going to give you a great shot," UTC coach Jim Foster said on the postgame radio broadcast.
It was one of the better games of Gilbert's sophomore season. In addition to her all-around game, she did a good job on 6-foot-2 ECU guard Jada Payne, who had 18 points and 10 rebounds but had to work for everything she got.
Payne was 7-of-15 from the field. She hit a 3-pointer with 2:12 to play in the third quarter to give the Pirates (6-4) a 44-42 advantage, but the Mocs answered with a 7-0 run, then outscored ECU 18-9 in the final 5:03 for the final margin.
"We executed very well in the fourth quarter offensively," Gilbert said on the broadcast. "We got some good looks."
Khadidja Toure had 13 points for the Pirates, while I'Tiana Taylor added 12 and DeVaughn Gray had 11.