If the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team plays like it did in the first and fourth quarters of Thursday's game at Wofford, the Mocs could make some noise in the Southern Conference this season.
But if they are the second- and third-quarter versions of themselves from the same game, there will be more troubles along the way.
Thursday's game at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium in Spartanburg, South Carolina, started off great, finished great and wasn't good in between for coach Katie Burrows' team - but it was a 60-52 win for her Mocs, who improved to 10-7 overall and 5-3 in the SoCon.
More importantly, UTC was able to strike the first blow against the Terriers (9-6, 5-3) in the two-game series - they meet again at 2 p.m. Saturday at the same venue - and now the teams are tied for third in the SoCon with just three weeks left before the league tournament.
The Mocs shot a combined 63% in the first and fourth quarters, compared to a combined 16% in the second and third. UTC's offensive output was balanced, with Bria Dial leading the way with 17 points, Eboni Williams scoring 16 and Abbey Cornelius adding 15.
In the game-changing fourth-quarter - which UTC won 21-7 after scoring just five points in the third quarter - the Mocs' defense was spearheaded by Sigrun Olafsdottir. The freshman from Iceland finished the game with just four points but did a really good job guarding Wofford's Jackie Carman, who scored a game-high 24 points but had just two in the fourth quarter while shooting 1-for-4. Carman also committed three fouls in the final 10 minutes.
Burrows went with Cornelius, Dial, Olafsdottir, Williams and sophomore guard Morgan Hill for the entirety of the final period. That unit turned six Wofford turnovers into nine points and held the Terriers to 18% shooting while making seven of 11 shots themselves.
Cornelius also had nine rebounds, while Olafsdottir and Williams had seven apiece, and Dial had four steals. UTC freshman Anna Walker, a former Bradley Central standout, had a solid performance off the bench with seven points, all in the first half.
Mocs star
Dial was her consistent self, leading the team in scoring and steals against the Terriers. Seven of her points came in the fourth quarter, including a 3 after a Cornelius steal that put the Mocs up 50-45 at the midway point of the final period.
Key stats
The Mocs get to the foul line on average more than anybody in the SoCon (17.4 attempts a game), but they had made just 66% of those free throws entering Thursday. On this night, the Mocs were 16-for-18, though, compared to just 6-of-8 for Wofford.
Turning point
The Mocs entered the fourth quarter having made just one field goal in the final nine minutes of the third while allowing Wofford to take a six-point lead. Olafsdottir quickly scored a basket, which started an 11-0 run to help the Mocs regain control of the game.
Quotable
"We had two or three players battling really hard for rebounds in the first half, and we had a couple that didn't go help because their man wasn't going (to rebound). We made it very, very clear in the locker room that we needed everybody rebounding, and we got all five people engaged on the board in the second half." - Burrows on the Mocs giving up just two offensive rebounds in the second half and winning the battle 18-14 in the final 20 minutes
Final thought
It was - a win. But in what has become a theme this season, the Mocs struggled to put 40 minutes together. The UTC team of the first and last quarters can beat anybody - evidenced by the Mocs having wins over the top three teams in the league - but the one of the two middle quarters could fall to anyone, as shown by a loss to last-place Furman. Still, a 5-3 league mark plus the chance to sweep Wofford and make its way back into the thick of the league race is a good thing for a UTC team that needs to put together some quality wins.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.