UNCG falls to Chattanooga, 83-66

GREENSBORO, NC - UNC Greensboro had three players in doubles figures but couldn’t solve Chattanooga’s outside game falling, 83-66 to Southern Conference rival Chattanooga in Fleming Gymnasium Monday night in women’s basketball action.

Senior guard Irene Otamiri and junior Kristen Boone led the way for UNCG (14-8, 7-4) with 14 points each, while KaLeah Latham had eight rebounds. Jasmine Byrd was UNCG’s next leading scorer with 13 points. Otamiri also tallied a game-high five steals.

“There are no excuses,” head coach Lynne Agee said. “This was probably the hardest weekend we’ve had, coming off a big game on Saturday against Davidson and then turning around and playing Chattanooga is challenging for anyone and we didn’t respond well. We didn’t play well today, we were missing assignments, not defending and we couldn’t find our focus and that just killed us tonight.”

Chattanooga (16-6, 9-2) was led by Jenaya Wade-Fray who scored a career-high 24 points and went 6-for-6 from behind the arc. Alex Anderson and was Chattanooga’s next leading scorer with 23 points and also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.

UNCG shot 46.6 percent from the field on 29-of-62 shooting and pulled down 34 rebounds in the loss. 

The teams started the second half slowly but two UNCG free throws cut the lead to 39-36 in the early goings of the half but free throws by Chattanooga pushed the lead up to six points. Ashley Ling dropped in a long jumper to cut the lead again but UNCG couldn’t stop the Mocs who pushed their lead to eight points at the 14:35 mark.

Brittany Frazier wouldn’t let UNCG fade way scoring on the inside and a long jumper from Otamiri cut the lead to four points, but UTC again found the basket pushing their lead to seven points. Otamiri again rallied the troops by hitting back-to-back buckets to cut the lead to 49-47 with just under 11 minutes left in the half.

Chattanooga went on a 9-2 run to jump back out to a 47-55 lead at the 9:25 mark and was able to get their outside game going and pushed their lead to 69-51, the largest lead of the game, at the 5:47 mark. UNCG was able to rattle off three unanswered buckets to cut the lead to 61-71, but couldn’t find an answer for Chattanooga’s three-point shots, dropping their first game in their last five outings.

Both teams started the games slowly but it was Chattanooga that got on the board first with a bucket by Laura Hall. The Spartans came up empty their first few possessions but Byrd hit a jumper through the right side to tie the game at two all the 18:06 mark.

Chattanooga’s Anderson hit the games first three at the 15:46 mark to give Chattanooga a one-point lead with just under 16 minutes in the half but a bucket from Otamiri and a quick steal kept the lead at one, but several quick buckets by UTC extended their lead to 11-6, but an Otamiri trey to cut the lead to two points.

The teams traded buckets for the next several minutes and UNCG was able to take a three-point lead at the 9:53 mark. Frazier hit a bucket in the paint to give UNCG a 5-0 run and a 22-17 lead, but a bucket by Chattanooga’s Shanara Hollinquest cut the lead to 19-22 with just under eight minutes in the half.

UNCG continued to press, coming up with a steal and a bucket on the other end, pushing the lead to 24-19 and  Byrd hit a jumper but back-to-back points by Chattanooga tied the game at 26 apiece with four minutes remaining.  The Spartans stepped it up in the final three minutes of the half with buckets from Boone and Frazier and were able to tie the game at 34-34 with 1:22 left but UTC’s Brooke Hand hit a three-pointer with 0:47 seconds left and a bucket by  Wade-Frey as time expired gave Chattanooga a 39-34 halftime advantage 

The Spartans hit the road for the next two games, traveling to Furman for a televised contest on Saturday. Tip time is set for 3:30 pm. UNCG then heads to Statesboro to take on Georgia Southern Feb. 5.

AGATE
CHATTANOOGA 83, UNCG 66

CHATTANOOGA (16-6, 9-2)
WADE-FRAY, Jenaya 8-9 2-2 24; ANDERSON, Alex 8-13 6-11 23; OGAN, Erin 3-3 1-2 10; MOHR, Amy 2-3 3-3 7; HALL, Laura 3-12 0-0 6; HATCHETT, Tagan 1-4 2-2 4; HOLLINQUEST, Shanara 2-5 0-0 4; HAND, Brooke 1-7 0-0 3; SPANN, Kristen 0-4 2-2 2. Totals 28-60 16-22 83.

UNCG (14-8, 7-4)
Otamiri, Irene 6-10 0-0 14; Boone, Kristen 6-13 0-0 14; Byrd, Jasmine 5-13 2-2 13; Frazier, Brittany 4-5 1-2 9; Latham, Kaleah 4-8 0-0 8; Dixon, Jasmine 1-2 0-0 2; Chamberlain, Meghan 1-6 0-0 2; Ling, Ashley 1-1 0-0 2; Brooks, Kemena 1-2 0-0 2; Grimsley, Gini 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 29-62 3-4 66.

 Halftime: UTC 39-34 3-point goals--Chattanooga 11-26 (WADE-FRAY, Jenaya 6-6; OGAN, Erin 3-3; ANDERSON, Alex 1-1; HAND, Brooke 1-7; SPANN, Kristen 0-1; HATCHETT, Tagan 0-2; HALL, Laura 0-6), UNCG 5-14 (Boone, Kristen 2-2; Otamiri, Irene 2-5; Byrd, Jasmine 1-7). Fouled out--Chattanooga-None, UNCG-None.  Rebounds--Chattanooga 35 (ANDERSON, Alex 9), UNCG 34 (Latham, Kaleah 8). Assists--Chattanooga 14 (ANDERSON, Alex 5), UNCG 19 (Otamiri, Irene 5). Total fouls--Chattanooga 7, UNCG 19. Technical fouls--Chattanooga-None, UNCG-None. A-408

- UNCG -