In more than one way, this has been a challenging season for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team.
It's also been a good week, though.
The Mocs picked up their second consecutive Southern Conference victory and their fourth win overall Saturday, leading wire to wire as they beat East Tennessee State 66-46 in Johnson City.
UTC (4-14, 2-1) started on a 14-2 run at Brooks Gymnasium and never looked back. The Mocs dominated the game statistically, with 36 points in the paint to ETSU's 16, 11 second-chance points to the Buccaneers' two, and a 42-26 edge in rebounds. The Mocs' 12 turnovers are their second-fewest this season, and their 16 assists are topped only by the 18 they had in Monday's double-overtime win at Samford.
UTC's Amaria Pugh reached double digits in points for the fourth time in five outings, scoring a game-high 18 on 8-for-11 shooting. Brooke Hampel added 12 points, Abbey Cornelius chipped in eight plus 11 rebounds and six blocked shots, and Destiny McClendon also had eight points. Sigrun Olafsdottir and Addie Porter shared a game high with five assists apiece, with Olafsdottir adding six points and six rebounds.
"We've been talking with some of the girls about just figuring out who they are within the offense, and what they are really good at," UTC coach Katie Burrows said in her postgame radio interview. "We said before the game that we're better together and we should share them all, and I felt like we did that."
Courtney Moore led the Bucs (1-13, 0-1) with 13 points.
UTC's back-to-back victories put a positive finish on a five-game road swing that covered three weeks and began with the Mocs being shorthanded in losses to Tennessee, Jacksonville State and Mercer. They're back at McKenzie Arena for the next two games, starting with Thursday's 7 p.m. matchup with Western Carolina (6-12, 0-3).
"It's nice to get to go home and be in front of our fans," Burrows said, "and not have to get on the bus for at least a couple of weeks."
Compiled by Gene Henley. Contact him at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.