The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga moved within a game of first place in the Southern Conference women's basketball standings with a 69-63 win Thursday night at Furman, completing a regular-season sweep of the Paladins.
The victorious Mocs (7-17, 6-4) built a 57-39 lead early in the fourth quarter in Greenville, South Carolina, before a rally by Furman (15-10, 5-5) cut the visitors' advantage to four points with 1:48 to play. The Paladins had the ball twice while down four over the next minute but missed a pair 3-pointers.
Eboni Williams and Lakelyn Bouldin hit four straight free throws for UTC to stretch the lead back to six, with their trips to the line sandwiched around Furman's Milica Manlojlovic making a layup. That was as close as Furman got at the end.
Abbey Cornelius led four UTC players who scored in double figures, with the sophomore forward totaling 16 points and eight rebounds. She was followed by Bouldin with 15 points, Williams with 13 and Bria Dial with 12. Williams also had seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals, and Nakeia Burks' seven assists led the Mocs.
At 6-4 in the league, UTC is one game behind Wofford (7-3) and one game in the loss column behind UNC Greensboro and Samford at 6-3. The Mocs' next game is at 2 p.m. Saturday at Wofford, which is 14-11 overall and lost 80-76 to UTC on Jan. 16 at McKenzie Arena.
Furman, which shot only 16-of-52 from the field (30.8%), was led by Le'Jzae Davidson with 22 points on 6-of-21 shooting. Lindsey Taylor, with 11 points, was the only other Paladin who scored in double figures. Tierra Hodges' 14 rebounds led Furman, which finished with a 41-32 advantage in that category.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.