The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball program went toe-to-toe with the top team in the Southern Conference on Saturday afternoon, but the Mocs fell just short in a 62-56 loss to Mercer at McKenzie Arena.
Brooke Burns led the Mocs with a career-best 17 points, many of them late in the game, and Arianne Whitaker scored eight points and pulled down 17 rebounds - her best rebounding game at UTC and second only to a 19-rebound performance as a Winthrop freshman.
The Mocs (12-15, 7-5) rallied several times throughout the game and had chances against a Bears team that now has won 32 consecutive regular-season league games. The outcome was in doubt until a 3-point attempt by UTC freshman Eboni Williams that would have made it a one-point game popped out of the basket with nine seconds remaining.
"Even in the loss, this was a confidence booster for our girls," UTC coach Katie Burrows said. "This was the best team in the league, and they've been executing all year. They know how to win, and our girls have been so up and down.
"We haven't been in a ton of situations where the game has been this tight, and if Eboni's 3 goes in, it cuts it to one and it's a whole different ballgame."
As has happened at other times this season, the Mocs started slowly on offense, going 5-for-18 from the field in the first quarter and trailing by seven in the first five minutes of play. But stronger defensive effort helped UTC keep the game close -the Mocs even took a three-point lead early in the second quarter - and the teams went to halftime tied at 27.
"We were just attacking, and we kept pushing the ball," Burns said. "Even when they scored, we would push the ball. We were just trying to get stops."
Lakelyn Bouldin, UTC's leading scorer this season, was held without points until 1:27 to go in the first half, and she finished with just eight, which Burrows said was not entirely the junior's fault.
"They were tight on Lakelyn, but part of that is I need to do a better job of getting the ball in her hands with various sets," Burrows said. "We'll talk about that in film and show them some situations where she should have gotten the ball and gotten some more opportunities."
The third quarter was back and forth, the teams trading baskets for much of the period. UTC led by three on a couple of occasions, but the Bears took a 48-44 lead into the final quarter and pushed the advantage to 56-46 with 5:30 remaining in the game. But again, UTC answered with a 10-2 run before key free throws by Mercer's Rachel Selph and Amanda Thompson in the final seconds helped the Bears avoid the upset.
Burns and Whitaker led the charge at the end to get the Mocs within 58-56 with 18 seconds left.
"Brooke just had that fire in her today, and I knew that. I just kept telling her to keep attacking, and she did," Burrows said. "I have confidence in her, and for her to go 7-of-12, she was the right person to have confidence in."
Mercer (20-7, 12-0) was led by Keke Calloway with 19 points, and Thompson had 18 points and nine rebounds. Both teams shot below 40 percent, and each made just one 3-point basket in the game. Burns' 3-pointer in the third quarter extended the Mocs' streak of games with at least one made 3 to 619 dating back to 1999.
"Maybe we were tired from going up and down the court," Burns said of the poor shooting from the perimeter. "We knew they had some good 3-point shooters, so we were kind of up on them and maybe the same for them."
Saturday was senior day for the Mocs, with NaKeia Burks, Shelbie Davenport and Molly Melton joined by their families after the game in honor of their last time as players at McKenzie Arena.
"They put in work every day just like everyone else, and they've seen some success and seen some bumps in the road," Burrows said. "But the fact of the matter is they've been dedicated to this program for the past four years and have helped shape this team into what it is. And I'm thankful for them."
UTC will finish the regular season with road games at UNC Greensboro and Western Carolina before heading to Asheville, North Carolina, for the SoCon tournament. Despide falling short Saturday, players and coaches saw positive signs from being able to compete with the best team in the league heading into the postseason.
"Our effort is there and we can beat this team," Whitaker said. "It's just a matter of making the shots. When we do that and put it with that effort, I know we can beat them. And our team knows and our coaches know that we can definitely beat them."
Contact Jim Tanner at JFTanner@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @JFTanner.