CULLOWHEE, N.C. --- The UTC Lady Mocs remain atop the Southern Conference standings with a 70-43 win over Western Carolina Sunday afternoon at the Ramsey Center. Chattanooga improves to 14-3 overall and 7-1 in league play while the Catamounts fall to 4-12 overall and 2-5 against the Southern Conference.
Chattanooga got scoring from all 12 players shooting 26-of-53 (49.1%) from the field, 10-of-26 from the 3-point line and hitting 8-of-9 from the free throw line. Western Carolina outrebounded the Lady Mocs 37-28, grabbing 19 offensive boards to the Lady Mocs’ 10.
Senior Kayla Christopher (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) and junior Ashlen Dewart (Spartanburg, S.C.) combined for 25 points with each making 5-of-7 from the field. Christopher, with 12 points, was 2-of-4 from beyond the arc and dished out a team-high three assists while Dewart was 3-of-4 from the free throw line with 13 points and three rebounds.
Chattanooga led from wire-to-wire in the game and got out to a 10-5 lead in the first four minutes with four points from Dewart and a pair of 3-pointers. Western Carolina pulled to within three points several times over the course of the first before Dewart hit a layup with 7:41 to play in the first half sparking an 11-0 run to give Chattanooga capped off with a 3-pointer from junior Alex Black (Memphis, Tenn.) to give the Lady Mocs their largest lead of the opening half at 28-14.
The second half started with a 3-pointer from senior Kylie Lambert (Etowah, Tenn.) putting UTC up 33-16. The Catamounts got the next four before Chattanooga went on a 21-4 run over the next 8:06 and led 54-24 with 10:09 to play in the game.
Black had nine points making 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, tying her career-high for long rangers. Sophomore Ka’Vonne Towns (Lilburn, Ga.), junior Taylor Hall (New Tazewell, Tenn.) and freshman Tatianna Jackson (Atlanta, Ga.) each grabbed a team-high four rebounds. Towns chipped in seven points while Hall had five points, three assists and a career-high tying four steals. Jackson had six points and two steals while junior Meghan Downes (Newnan, Ga.) went 2-for-5 from beyond the arc for six points, two assists and two steals.
Western Carolina was led by Lindsay Simpson's 13 points. Diamond Hunnicut scored eight points off the bench and Shauna Terry had six points and a game-best seven rebounds.
Chattanooga dominated the Catamounts in the paint 24-8 and scored 20 points off 18 Western Carolina turnovers. The Lady Mocs edged WCU 10-9 on second chance points and recorded a 28-22 advantage from the bench.
The Lady Mocs remain on the road with a contest Wednesday at Samford in Birminghan. The game will tip off at 8 p.m. Eastern Time and carried live on ESPN 105.1 FM.