A hot start did not last for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team Sunday at UT-Martin as the Mocs lost the nonconference game 78-51.
The Mocs (1-9) hit four of their first five shots, including 3-pointers from Bria Dial and Lakelyn Bouldin, to jump out to a 12-0 lead. They stretched it to 17-2 before the Skyhawks (3-5), finding success with a full-court press, embarked on a 24-0 run that lasted nearly seven minutes.
"They weren't pressing us in the first quarter," Mocs coach Katie Burrows, whose team committed 28 turnovers, said in a UTC release. "We prepare for this and that is the most frustrating thing about it. We got better at it this week and we were handling it in practice. As soon as they turned up the heat, we lost our minds.
"Part of that, too, was that when we did get it in the half-court set we stopped moving the ball like we did in the first quarter. We were getting great looks because we were moving the ball around and were able to get paint touches and get our feet set. I just don't know why we throw all of that out the window when the pressure starts coming."
Coincidentally, the UTC men's basketball team also led 12-0 in a home win Sunday against Tennessee Wesleyan.
The UTC women had not played since losing 71-65 at Eastern Kentucky - but playing well - the previous Sunday.
UT-Martin led 37-26 at halftime and stretched it to 43-26 as the Mocs missed their first six shots of the third quarter and committed three turnovers in the first three minutes on their way to making just one of six shots in the period.
Freshman Abbey Cornelius paced the Mocs with her first double-double (11 points, 11 rebounds), going 5-for-8 on free throws and making three steals. Bouldin led UTC with 14 points, with Bria Dial adding 10.
For UT-Martin, Chelsey Perry had a game-high 24 points and Damiah Griffin added 19.
UTC's next game is at 8 p.m. Wednesday at South Dakota State.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.