UTC women in too much of a giving mood in 14-point loss at Samford

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team was bitten by the turnover bug in a 60-46 Southern Conference loss Thursday night at Samford.

The Mocs (4-15, 3-2), who had won two straight league games at home, committed 24 turnovers, with 16 of them coming in the first half as they dug a 31-21 deficit in Birmingham, Alabama. The Bulldogs (8-11, 3-1) scored 22 points off the turnovers and had 11 more shots than the Mocs in part because of the turnovers.

"That wasn't the same team that was on the court last week," Mocs coach Katie Burrows said in a release on the UTC website. "I have to take full responsibility for it. We have to prepare better. The two things I said we had to do, making our free throws and taking care of the ball (we) missed five free throws and had 24 turnovers. You cannot turn the ball over that many times and expect to even come close to winning this ballgame."

UTC guard Lakelyn Bouldin led the Mocs in scoring with 13 points in their 60-46 loss Thursday night at Samford. / Staff file photo by C.B. Schmelter

UTC was led by Lakelyn Bouldin's 13 points, and Eboni Williams had 14 rebounds to lead a 36-28 edge in that category for the visitors. Samford was led by Natalie Armstrong's 22 points, a big part of the Bulldogs' 30-18 edge in points in the paint.

She scored nine of the Bulldogs' first 11 points as they took an 18-10 lead after one quarter. The Mocs cut their deficit to four on Ruona Uwusiaba's three-point play three minutes into the second period, but UTC committed seven more turnovers and a costly end-of-half foul while digging a 31-21 deficit going into halftime.

Samford's Charity Brown was fouled while hoisting a half-court shot in the period's final seconds and made two of the three free throws that ensued for the 10-point lead.

The Bulldogs then scored the first points of the third quarter with a pair of layups by Armstrong, the reigning SoCon player of the week, to go up by 14. Their lead never shrank to fewer than 10 points the rest of the way.

UTC returns to competition by taking on Mercer (3-16, 0-4) at 2 p.m. Saturday in Macon, Georgia. The Bears lost 72-66 on Thursday to East Tennessee State (7-13, 2-3) - the team the Mocs will play next after Mercer, with their visit to Johnson City on Feb. 1.

Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.