Chattanooga 84, Belmont 54

NASHVILLE, Tenn. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team got a balanced effort Wednesday night to nab an 84-54 win over Belmont at the Curb Event Center in non-conference action.

Junior Taylor Hall, playing just 20 minutes, led all scorers with 16 points as UTC Head Coach Wes Moore got more players into the game.  She went 5-of-8 from the floor and missed her fourth 3-point attempt after making each of her first three. She was 3-of-4 from the free throw line as well and grabbed five rebounds.

Junior Faith Dupree added 12 points and three assists while freshman Tatianna Jackson also had 12 going 4-of-5 from the floor, 2-for-3 from the 3-point line and had four steals. Junior Ashlen Dewart was the fourth Chattanooga player in double figures with 10 points and was 4-for-6 from the charity stripe.

Senior Kayla Christopher and junior Destiny Bramblett each tossed in eight points in the win. Christopher, along with Dupree, dished out three assists each while senior Kylie Lambert and sophomore Ka’Vonne Towns.

Chattanooga jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead behind a jumper from Hall and a 3-pointer from Hall less than two minutes into the contest. UTC grew its led to double figures just over halfway through the first half to 28-17 at the 9:10 mark and never trailed throughout the game.

Belmont’s Alyssa Visbeen hit a 3-pointer to pull the Bruins within one, but that was as close as it would get the rest of the game as Chattanooga pushed its lead to 16 in the first half on a jumper from Dewart.

In the second half, the two team started out trading shots with the Lady Mocs taking a 52-37 lead at the 13:42 mark. A 7-0 run by UTC put Chattanooga up 59-37. Jackson hit a free throw and grabbed a steal that led to a layup stretching the Lady Mocs’ lead to 62-39 with 9:55 to play.

Belmont cut the lead to 17, 62-45, on six straight free throws from Visbeen, but UTC responded with another 7-0 run, fueled by five made free throws to go up 69-45 with 5:54 to play. The Lady Mocs largest lead came with 40 seconds remaining, 84-52, on a layup from junior Meghan Downes.

The Lady Mocs were 29-of-60 from the field (48.3%) and was 7-of-15 (46.7%) from beyond the arc. UTC was 19-of-26 from the free throw line and outrebounded Belmont 39-31. Chattanooga dished out 14 assists, had 12 steals and 12 turnovers.

Belmont (1-2) shot just 32 percent (16-of-50) from the floor and was 5-of-18 (27.8%) from the 3-point line while getting a near-perfect performance at the free throw line making 17-of-18.

Chattanooga improves to 2-0 on the year and will return home to host former Southern Conference rival East Tennessee State Saturday, Nov. 17 at 7:30 p.m.

Virginia Tech 71, Appalachian State 68

BLACKSBURG, Va. – Anna Freeman scored a career-high 36 points, but it was not enough as Appalachian State University women's basketball fell to Virginia Tech by a 71-68 final on Wednesday night at Cassell Coliseum.

The Mountaineers (1-1) led by as many as eight points in the first half against the Hokies (1-1), but were unable to hang on in the second half as Virginia Tech snapped a 10-game losing streak.

Freeman, who shot 10-of-18 on the night and was 6-of-11 from beyond the arc, set the tone early when she connected on a three pointer for the first points of the game.

Virginia Tech would respond by grabbing a six-point lead (15-9) with just over 10 minutes left in the first half, but the Apps reeled off a 12-0 run to grab a 21-15 lead and force a Hokie timeout with 6:40 on the clock.

Appalachian extended its lead to eight points (28-20) when Courtney Freeman connected on a pair of free throws at the 2:32 mark and took a 31-28 lead into the break after Virginia Tech hit a three-pointer in the closing seconds of the first period.

The Hokies came out of the locker room and immediately erased the lead, scoring 15 of the next 20 points to jump out to a 43-36 lead with just under 15 minutes left to play.

The Mountaineers would chip away at the lead and eventually reclaim the advantage, 66-65, with 2:51 remaining in the contest.

In a wild final minute of action, Virginia Tech would take the lead on a three-pointer before Kelsey Sharkey tied it with a layup with just 42 seconds left.

The Hokies regained the lead (70-68) with 19 ticks on the clock. Appalachian would have one final chance to tie, but a layup from Raven Gary just missed and Virginia Tech hit one final free throw to claim the 71-68 victory.

A. Freeman led all players in scoring while snagging eight rebounds and dishing out three assists. C. Freeman fell just shy of a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds while notching five assists in the night.

Virginia Tech was paced by Alyssa Fenyn's 13 points while Monet Tellier (12), Taijah Campbell (11) and Porschia Hadley (10) all scored in double figures.

The Mountaineers shot 45.5 percent (20-of-44) from the floor including 8-of-18 from long range and 20-of-23 at the charity stripe. Virginia Tech shot 47.5 percent (28-of-59) on the night and connected on 9-of-17 three-point shots. The Hokies finished with a 31-25 edge in rebounds.

Appalachian State returns to action when it plays host to Gardner-Webb at 6 p.m. on Nov. 20 at the Holmes Center.