GREENSBORO, NC – Chattanooga shot a blistering 63.3 percent in the second half to erase a 10-point halftime deficit in sending the Lady Mocs to an 82-75 victory over UNC Greensboro in Southern Conference women’s basketball action Monday night at Fleming Gym.
Junior guard Jasmine Byrd led UNCG (4-7, 0-2 SoCon) with a season-high 21 points on 5-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc. Sophomore center Meghan Chamberlain converted 7-of-9 shots for a career-best 15 points. Sophomore guard Kristen Boone posted her first career double-double with 11 points and 11 assists, the latter figure represents the most assists for a Spartan since ChoRhonda Gwaltney had 10 helpers against College of Charleston on December 29, 2000.
Freshman guard Gini Grimsley and junior forward Irene Otamiri each tossed in 10 points for the Spartans.
Laura Hall led all scorers with a career-high 25 points on 9-of-10 shooting for Chattanooga (9-3, 3-0 SoCon). Tiffani Roberson added 22 points and Katasha Brown contributed 12 points in the win.
UNCG shot a season-best 55.5 (16-for-29) percent from the floor to take a seemingly comfortable 41-31 lead into intermission with Byrd pacing the Spartans with 13 points in the opening 20 minutes of action.
Chattanooga, who has now won eight straight games, put together a 13-2 run over the opening 3:05 of the second half to grab the lead back from the Spartans, 44-43. Brown, the pre-season conference player of the year, gave the Lady Mocs the lead with her third trey of the game.
Grimsley answered for the Spartans with five straight points to put UNCG back up top 50-49 with 13:30 to go. With the game tied 52-52, UTC rattled off a 14-5 run that put them up 66-57 with 8:03 left. Roberson had seven points in the run, while Hall drained a 3-pointer and a jumper from the lane. The lead would later swell to 15 points four minutes later, before UNCG got to within six on a 3-pointer by Byrd with four ticks left in the game.
UNCG connected on three straight 3-pointers to take a 29-22 lead with 6:55 left in the first half. Grimsley banked in a trey to give the Spartans the lead and Byrd followed with back-to-back 3-pointers. UNCG would take its biggest lead into the half, 41-31, after Latham converted a pair of free throws with 29 seconds left.
Chattanooga drained 10-of-21 shots from beyond the arc, while UNCG had a season-high seven treys. UTC held a 36-28 advantage in rebounding, including a 21-12 cushion in the second half.
UNCG takes to the road for a Saturday afternoon date with league rival Furman. Game time is set for 3 pm in Greenville, SC. Meanwhile, Chattanooga visits conference foe Appalachian State on Saturday at 2 pm.
GAME NOTES: UNCG lost for the first time this season when leading at the half and when committing fewer turnovers... Chamberlain tied her career-high with three first half blocks... Byrd’s 10 3-point attempts put her in third place all-time at UNCG with 363 shots from beyond the arc... Byrd is also tied for fifth with 87 3-pointers made... Boone’s 148 steals is already good for 10th all-time at UNCG... The 82 points by UTC was the most allowed by the Spartans this year... UNCG had five players in double figures for the first time this season.
AGATE
CHATTANOOGA 82, UNC GREENSBORO 75
CHATTANOOGA (9-3, 3-0 SoCon)
HALL, Laura 9-10 3-4 25; ROBERSON, Tiffani 10-18 2-4 22; BROWN,
Katasha 4-10 1-1 12; ANDERSON, Alex 3-3 2-2 8; MATTISON, Nicole
3-11 0-1 7; SPANN, Kristen 2-2 0-0 5; HAND, Brooke 1-7 0-0 3.
Totals 32-61 8-12 82.
UNC GREENSBORO (4-7, 0-2 SoCon)
BYRD, Jasmine 7-19 2-2 21; CHAMBERLAIN, Meghan 7-9 1-2 15; BOONE,
Kristen 4-11 3-3 11; GRIMSLEY, Gini 4-5 0-0 10; OTAMIRI, Irene 5-9
0-0 10; LATHAM, KaLeah 3-8 2-2 8; BLAIR, Caroline 0-0 0-0 0;
CURRENT, Ashley 0-0 0-0 0; LING, Ashley 0-0 0-0 0; DIXON, Jasmine
0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-62 8-9 75.
Halftime: UNC Greensboro 41-31. 3-point goals-Chattanooga 10-21 (HALL, Laura 4-5; BROWN, Katasha 3-6; MATTISON, Nicole 1-3; SPANN, Kristen 1-1; HAND, Brooke 1-6), UNC Greensboro 7-17 (BYRD, Jasmine 5-10; GRIMSLEY, Gini 2-2; BOONE, Kristen 0-3; LATHAM, KaLeah 0-1; DIXON, Jasmine 0-1). Fouled out--Chattanooga-None, UNC Greensboro-None. Rebounds-Chattanooga 36 (ANDERSON, Alex 8), UNC Greensboro 28 (OTAMIRI, Irene 5; CHAMBERLAIN, Meghan 5; LATHAM, KaLeah 5). Assists-Chattanooga 18 (HALL, Laura 6), UNC Greensboro 18 (BOONE, Kristen 11). Total fouls-Chattanooga 12, UNC Greensboro 17. A-138.
- UNCG -