The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team dropped a 75-68 decision Tuesday at Kennesaw State, falling to 1-4 on the season.
The Mocs return home to face Georgia State (3-3) Saturday at 1:30 in the first game of a doubleheader, with the men hosting College of Charleston at 4.
Tuesday night, they shot well, making a season-high 10 3-pointers, but they also turned the ball over 24 times, which the Owls (2-3) turned into 25 points. The home team also feasted on the interior, grabbing 16 offensive rebounds that they turned into 10 points and scoring 38 of their 75 points in the paint.
"Things are starting to come together, but the turnovers are just a thorn in our side," UTC head coach Katie Burrows said. "It's just not getting any better, and that's very, very frustrating to me, because that's the difference in the game right there."
Destiny McClendon hit the second of her two second-quarter 3-pointers with 7:54 left in the period, giving the Mocs a 23-20 advantage. The Owls responded with a 10-2 run in the second quarter, then stretched the lead out to as much as 18 in the third quarter. UTC did close to single digits on a few occasions in the second half, but never got closer than the seven-point difference, which came virtue of Abbey Cornelius' first 3-pointer of the season with under 10 seconds to play.
Cornelius had 21 points and also led the team in rebounds with six and blocks with four. Freshman guard McClendon had 13, while Dena Jarrells (12) and Addie Porter (10) also reached double figures. Jarrells had seven assists.
Brooke Hampel returned to the lineup for the first time since Nov. 13 and had five points and five rebounds in 15 minutes, while Amaria Pugh - in her second game back - played 16 minutes.
- Compiled by Gene Henley