UNCG comes up short at Chattanooga, 72-68

CHATTANOOGA, TN – Chattanooga survived for a 72-68 victory over UNC Greensboro in Southern Conference women’s basketball action Monday night at McKenzie Arena.

Sophomore guard Kristen Boone led UNCG (10-10, 6-5 SoCon) with 14 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals. Senior forward Ashley Current and junior forward Kaleah Latham each tossed in 11 points, while sophomore guard Kemena Brooks scored in double figures off the bench for the third straight game with 10 points.

Tiffani Roberson led UTC (17-3, 11-0 SoCon) with a game-high 17 points. Alex Anderson had her fourth double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Katasha Brown, the pre-season conference player of the year, added 11 points.

UTC entered the game having won its three prior SoCon home games by an average of 36.5 points per game, but the Spartans were more than up to the task of knocking off the Lady Mocs. An 18-7 run midway through the second half tied the game at 53-53 with 9:40 remaining. Current, who saw extended minutes duo to Meghan Chamberlain’s foul trouble, scored five straight points in the run and junior guard Irene Otamiri ultimately tied the game on a short jumper.

Moments later, the Spartans grabbed the lead, 55-54, on a jumper in the lane by Boone with 8:06 to play. The Lady Mocs answered with the next nine points to go back up 63-55, forcing UNCG to call a timeout. The break worked as the Spartans scored five straight points to make it a 63-60 ballgame.

It remained a two possession game the rest of the half. Boone made it a 68-65 affair at the 2:20 mark, before UTC canned two free throws to go up 70-65. Brooks made it interesting with a 3-pointer with eight seconds left to make the score 70-68, but Anderson drained two free throws with five seconds left to seal the Lady Mocs win, 72-68.

UNCG held the Lady Mocs without a field goal in the opening 4:57 of the game to take a 10-1 lead. Latham began the game with consecutive layup’s and Otamiri canned a pair of jumpers for the Spartans in the opening minutes.

A 20-9 run by UTC put them up for the first time, 21-19, after Brooke Hand drilled a 3-pointer at the 5:39 mark. Hand, who had a career-night with 28 points at UNCG on January 2, connected on another trey at the 3:48 mark, putting Chattanooga ahead 32-23. The Lady Mocs would maintain their lead and went into halftime with a 37-29 advantage.

UTC shot 50.0 percent (14-of-28) from the field, including 5-of-10 from the 3-point range, in the opening 20 minutes, while UNCG was limited to 33.3 percent (12-of-36) shooting. The Spartans held a 23-19 advantage in rebounds.

UNCG hosts SoCon rival Furman on Saturday at 2 pm at Fleming Gym. Meanwhile, Chattanooga hosts Appalachian State on Saturday at 6 pm.

GAME NOTES: UNCG and UTC are the only two schools in the SoCon with at least 10 wins against Division I opponents... UNCG had led at halftime in the last two games against Chattanooga... UNCG is 4-2 on the road in conference... Kristen Boone has a steal in all 44 games of her career and entered the game second in the nation with 4.7 steals per game... UNCG is 0-5 on Monday... Chattanooga has a 16-game winning streak, which is the second longest in the nation... UTC has won 28 straight league games at McKenzie Arena... UTC has won 50 of the last 51 games in the SoCon over the past three seasons... UNCG is in a tie with College of Charleston for third place in the SoCon.

AGATE
CHATTANOOGA 72, UNCG 68

UNC Greensboro (10-10, 6-5 SoCon)
BOONE, Kristen 5-12 4-4 14; LATHAM, KaLeah 4-7 2-4 11; CURRENT, Ashley 5-7 1-2 11; BROOKS, Kemena 4-10 0-2 10; BYRD, Jasmine 2-16 0-0 6; OTAMIRI, Irene 3-5 0-0 6; CHAMBERLAIN, Meghan 2-5 0-0 4; DIXON, Jasmine 2-5 0-1 4; GRIMSLEY, Gini 1-2 0-0 2; BLAIR, Caroline 0-1 0-0 0; LING, Ashley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-70 7-13 68.

CHATTANOOGA (17-3, 11-0 SoCon)
ROBERSON, Tiffani 7-17 3-5 17; ANDERSON, Alex 4-6 8-15 16; BROWN, Katasha 5-14 0-0 11; MATTISON, Nicole 3-8 2-3 9; HALL, Laura 3-3 1-2 9; HAND, Brooke 3-6 0-0 8; OGAN, Erin 1-4 0-0 2; SPANN, Kristen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-5814-25 72.

Halftime: Chattanooga 37-29. 3-point goals-UNCG 5-15 (BYRD, Jasmine 2-8; BROOKS, Kemena 2-4; LATHAM, KaLeah 1-1; OTAMIRI, Irene 0-1; BOONE, Kristen 0-1), Chattanooga 6-15 (HALL, Laura 2-2; HAND, Brooke 2-4; BROWN, Katasha 1-6; MATTISON, Nicole 1-1; OGAN, Erin 0-1; ANDERSON, Alex 0-1). Fouled out--UNCG-CURRENT, Ashley, Chattanooga-None. Rebounds-UNCG 51 (LATHAM, KaLeah 9; CURRENT, Ashley 9), Chattanooga 35 (ANDERSON, Alex 10). Assists-UNCG 13 (BOONE, Kristen 5), Chattanooga 15 (MATTISON, Nicole 6). Total fouls-UNCG 21, Chattanooga 16. A-1135.

- UNCG -