A cold-shooting first half proved to be too much to overcome for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on Saturday in Macon, Georgia, where the Mocs lost 55-48 to Mercer in Southern Conference women's basketball.
The Mocs (4-16, 3-3) made just six of 26 field-goal attempts while committing 10 turnovers in the first half, when Mercer (4-16, 1-4) was 16-of-33 with just two turnovers. Jaron Dougherty and Shannon Titus combined to score 30 points as the Bears rolled to a 35-16 halftime lead.
UTC got back into the game by outscoring Mercer 22-7 in the third quarter - Bria Dial had 10 of her team-high 20 points during the period - with the Mocs cutting their deficit to one before the Bears regained control.
"I don't know where that fire was in the first half," said UTC coach Katie Burrows, whose team has lost two consecutive road games. "It is discouraging that I have to try to press in order to get that fire out of us. We looked pretty darn good with it. It's just a shame that we dug ourselves that big of a hole in the first half."
It was just a two-point game after UTC's Abbey Cornelius hit a short jumper a minute into the final quarter, but the Mocs scored only six more points over the next eight minutes. Meanwhile, Dougherty and Titus - who finished the game with 29 and 18 points, respectively - combined for 10 points in the final quarter.
Dougherty also led Mercer with 12 rebounds and four blocked shots.
Cornelius added 11 points and eight rebounds, with NaKeia Burks getting 10 points and three assists and Eboni Williams 12 rebounds for the Mocs, who return to action at 1 p.m. next Saturday at East Tennessee State.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.