Chattanooga 54, No. 7 Stanford 46
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Despite not scoring a single field goal in the final 11:26 of the game, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga came away with an enormous 54-46 upset of No. 7 Stanford Wednesday night at the McKenzie Arena. The Mocs have won 43 of their last 44 games at home.
Chattanooga improves to 7-3 on the year while the Cardinal fall to 6-3 and will move on the face Tennessee this weekend in Knoxville. This is Chattanooga’s second win over a Top 10 team in school history and it’s second this season.
The Mocs missed all 12 attempts in the final half of the second frame but did connect on 9-of-10 free throws in that span and were 11-of-13 for the game, all in the second half.
Sophomore Chelsey Shumpert scored a career-high 18 points to lead Chattanooga. She was 5-of-9 from beyond the arc, the most of her short tenure in the Mocs’ lineup, and was 3-of-4 from the free throw line.
Sophomore Jasmine Joyner snared 11 rebounds, nine on the defensive end and just missed a double-double with nine points while adding five blocked shots to her league-leading total. Sophomore Moses Johnson was 2-of-3 from beyond the arc and contributed 10 points in just 14 minutes on the court.
Chattanooga’s largest lead of the game came with 13:14 to play on a 3-pointer from Shumpert to make it 42-32. The Mocs’ next field goal would be its last on a jumper from freshman Keiana Gilbert to keep the lead in double figures, 44-34 with 11:26 on the clock.
Stanford scored the next five points to cut the Mocs’ lead to 44-39 with 6:01 to play. Chattanooga’s next points came on a free throw from senior Destiny Bramblett (Radcliff, Ky.) who connected on 1-of-2 from the free throw line.
Just over a minute later, junior Alicia Payne made both of her shots from the line to stretch the lead to 47-39, but a quick jumper and an old-fashioned 3-point play by Karlie Samuelson slashed the lead to 47-44 with 2:10 to play.
Over the next 1:20, the two teams would trade turnovers and missed buckets, but a foul by the Cardinal to stop the clock put senior Ka’Vonne Towns (Lilburn, Ga.) on the line with 50 seconds remaining. She drained both shots, but Stanford’s Bonnie Samuelson hit both of her charity shots and the lead remained a one possession game at 49-46 with 36 seconds to play.
Stanford continued to send the Mocs to the line and Shumpert hit just one of her two. Chattanooga got the ball back six seconds later on a turnover by Amber Orrange and Towns returned to the line on the possession. The Mocs hit their final four free throws for the eight-point win.
Chattanooga held Stanford to a season-low for points and its lowest field goal percentage of the year at 27.7 percent. The Cardinal averaged eight 3-pointers per game before tonight and were just 4-of-7 from long range.
Chattanooga was 17-of-53 from the field (32.1%) and were 9-of-24 from the 3-point line, the second most made treys in a game this season. Stanford out dueled Chattanooga on the boards 49-34. The Cardinal had 22 offensive rebounds resulting in just 14 second chance points and outscored the Mocs 20-12 in the paint.
However, Chattanooga forced a season-high tying 15 turnovers for Stanford and turned that into a 18-6 advantage.
Stanford’s largest lead of the game came early, taking an 8-2 lead at the 17:16 mark of the first half. The Mocs quickly responded with a pair of 3-pointers from Shumpert and Towns to tie it up 8-8 with 14:27 to play in the opening stanza.
Stanford retook the lead twice before the Mocs got out front for good on a Bramblett 3-pointer with 9:06 to go in the first half. The Cardinal battled back, but the Mocs held the lead at 29-28 at the break.
Earlier this season the Mocs beat then-No. 4 ranked Tennessee 67-63 at McKenzie. It was UTC's second win in three years over the Lady Vols.
The Mocs will host Tennessee Tech, Morgan State and North Carolina A&T this weekend in the Chattanooga Christmas Classic at the McKenzie Arena. UTC will take on Morgan State Saturday at 4 p.m. and North Carolina A&T Sunday at 2 p.m.
Western Carolina 79, UNC Asheville 66
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Junior guard Lindsay Simpson poured in a season-high 20 points as Western Carolina women's basketball muscled its way past UNC Asheville 79-66, at the Bulldogs Education Day game, Wednesday afternoon in Kimmell Arena.
The Catamounts improve to 6-4 on the season scoring the most points of the year. UNC Asheville falls to 3-7.
Simpson, a native of Franklin, N.C., came off the bench to snap her scoring slump hitting 7-of-9 from the field and 4-of-5 from behind the three point arch. She was one of four Catamount players who scored in double figures with senior guard Justin Taylor notching 16, Makensey Campbell adding 11 and Brianne Mack posting 10.
UNCA stayed in the game, early in the first half, thanks to five straight points at the free throw line to open the contest. In fact, Bronaza Fitzgerald scored the first seven points of the game for the Bulldogs helping UNCA to take an early 7-6 lead.
Western Carolina weathered it all in the first half, including losing starters Taylor and Mack to two personal fouls mid-way through the first half. With the scoring minded Taylor out with six minutes to go in the half, with two fouls, Simpson found the hot hand and scored 13 of her 20 points in the first half.
Tied at 22, Western Carolina got a five point swing when Ali Lane swiped a steal and Simpson turned it into a lay-up. Campbell drained a three-pointer and just like that WCU was up by five, 27-22. In the final five plus minutes of the first half, Western Carolina went on a 14-8 run to lead 41-33 at the half.
UNCA came out on all cylinders and trimmed the Western Carolina lead to four, 50-46, with 15:17 remaining - it was the closest the Bulldogs would get to the Catamounts in the game. The tipping point was when Shonese Jones hit a pair of free throws to make the score 63-55 with 9:36 left.
Simpson answered hitting a lay-up with 8:18 left and the game's momentum seemed to swing completely in Western Carolina's favor. With 6:39 left, Western Carolina built its largest lead of the game at 14, 69-55, when Taylor hit a jumper.
UNCA's Jones did make it interesting when she hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to six, 69-63, with 3:21 left. Lane hit a field goal and was fouled, hitting the and one free throw, to push the lead back to nine, 72-63.
Western Carolina was 5-of-8 from the free throw line to close out the game.
UNC Asheville's 19-of-25 from the free throw line kept the Bulldogs in the game. UNCA also hit seven three-pointers.
The Catamounts shot a scorching season-high 56 from the field and nailed nine three-pointers. WCU also had a season-low five turnovers in the contest.
UNCA doubled up the Catamounts on the glass ripping down 45, 25 on the offensive end, to the Catamounts' 22. WCU also dished out a season-high 19 assists including Lane tying her career-high in assists with eight.
Western Carolina returns to action Saturday facing FIU at 1:00 p.m. in Jacksonville, Florida as part of the UNF Holiday Tournament hosted by North Florida.
St. Bonaventure 78, UNCG 60
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – Despite senior forward Jarae Savage matching her career high with 19 points, the UNCG women’s basketball team fell to St. Bonaventure, 78-60, Wednesday night at the Reilly Center.
The Spartans fall to 4-7 on the season and the Bonnies improve to 8-3 on the season. Savage earns her second straight double-double scoring 19 points (8-of-19) along with 12 rebounds.
Junior guard Lucy Mason scored 14 points (5-of-11), hitting double figures for the 10th time this season. Senior guard Jessica Collins added 10 points with four rebounds and five assists.
UNCG forced 22 St. Bonaventure turnovers leading to 24 points for the Spartans. The Blue and Gold also had 11 steals and went 7-of-18 from three-point land.
The Bonnies shot 12-of-18 in the second half and were 57.1 percent from the field overall at 28-of-49 shooting. UNCG was held under 40 percent at 33.3 (23-of-69).
Savage came off the bench scoring 11 first-half points but the Spartans trailed 38-34 at halftime. Harris added six points on 3-of-4 shooting.
St. Bonaventure came out with a 8-0 run to start the game off three layups and a jumper just four minutes into the half. UNCG responded with a nice 14-3 spurt to take a 14-11 advantage after a jumper from Harris.
Both teams would trade buckets back and forth but sophomore Jade Scaife hit a jumper to push UNCG’s lead to 22-18 with 9:08 remaining in the period.
The Bonnies would go on a 6-0 run to retake the lead at 27-25 off a layup from Mariah Ruff with 5:21 on the clock. Sophomore Bailey Williams hit a jumper to tie the game at 29-29 but St. Bonaventure would make a run heading into intermission.
St. Bonaventure would open up a 36-29 lead after a 7-0 run but the Spartans would cut the deficit to just four after a three pointer from freshman Keli Foster and a jumper from Harris. Two free throws by the Bonnies’ Imani Outlaw would make the score 38-34 at the break.
In the second half, UNCG cut the lead to one at 44-43 after a layup from Savage with 16:43 left in the contest. The Bonnies would go on a 7-2 run to increase their lead to 51-45 at the 14:31 mark.
Savage would hit two free throws to make the score 53-49 but St. Bonaventure would go on another run. During a seven minute stretch, the Bonnies would score 12 unanswered points to pull away from UNCG at 65-49 with under five minutes left.
The Spartans would only score 11 points the rest of the game falling to 2-5 in road games.
The Blue and Gold return home to face Livingstone Saturday, Dec. 20 at noon at Fleming Gymnasium.