UTC women lose third straight as turnovers are trouble vs. Georgia State

Staff photo by Robin Rudd / UTC's Destiny McClendon, left, fights for the basketball during Saturday's nonconference game against Georgia State at McKenzie Arena.
Staff photo by Robin Rudd / UTC's Destiny McClendon, left, fights for the basketball during Saturday's nonconference game against Georgia State at McKenzie Arena.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team's struggles continued Saturday, when the Mocs committed 20 turnovers - 13 in the second half - in a 77-66 loss to Georgia State at McKenzie Arena.

It's the third straight defeat for the Mocs (1-5), who visit the University of Alabama at Birmingham (3-2) at 7 p.m. Eastern on Monday before a trip to Nashville to face Vanderbilt (4-4) a day later.

In the final 30 minutes against the Panthers (4-3), UTC made 17 shots and turned the ball over 19 times.

"The only way to fix it is to stop throwing the ball to the other team," UTC coach Katie Burrows said. "We give consequences every day and seemingly are doing well in practice with it, even against the practice squad. They're putting pressure on us, they're jumping passing lanes, we're practicing against that stuff. Then you get in a situation where there's a little bit more atmospheric pressure of having to be in a situation where you could win or lose, and it matters.

"That's when we crumble. We get too many people trying to make plays that they have no business making. and we've got to figure out ways to cut it out."

UTC shot just 2-for-22 from 3-point range in the game, with both makes coming from Dena Jarrells, who finished with 12 points and a pair of steals.

Sigrun Olafsdottir had a team-best 13 points for the Mocs, adding six rebounds in a team-high 32:55 of game time. Abbey Cornelius chipped in nine points to go along with her team highs of 14 rebounds, five assists and two blocks.

The Mocs had their chances. They led 37-33 at halftime and trailed just 56-54 after three quarters. But in the final period, UTC was just 2-for-13 from the field, while Georgia State was 7-for-16.

The Panthers had three scorers in double figures: Taniyah Worth (16 points), Taylor Henderson (15) and Ashley Foster (10).

Compiled by Gene Henley. Contact him at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.

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