No. 25 UTC Women Defeat Samford, 49-32

  • Monday, January 26, 2015
  • B.B. Branton
UTC's Ka'Vonne Towns looks for an opening to score against Samford Monday night
UTC's Ka'Vonne Towns looks for an opening to score against Samford Monday night
photo by Dennis Norwood

“I think it’s great for grade school kids all over the country because they will learn how to spell Chattanooga because it will be in their local paper. That’s the best thing about it. There are Chattanooga graduates all over the place and they can pick up and go to the agate page and see if Sportscenter knows how to spell.”

-- UTC women’s basketball coach Jim Foster in response to a media question on how he feels about the team being in the Associated Press Top 25 ranking (for the first time since 1984) that came out earlier today.

During Sunday’s practice, Chattanooga women’s basketball UTC coach Jim Foster had his players go through a 3-point drill of shooting 55 3s in five minutes.

“We were shooting the 3s so poorly that I stopped the drill midway and worked on our defense,” said coach Foster in tonight’s post-game conference.

After the Lady Mocs’ 49-32 win Monday night in McKenzie Arena against previously unbeaten (in Southern Conference) Samford, the Bulldogs 11-9, 4-1) probably wish the Mocs had made a few more shots from long range and stayed away from practicing “D”.

The Bulldogs came into the game on a six-game win streak, averaging 59.9 points per game and connecting on 6 of 31 3s per contest.

They left Chattanooga (18-3, 6-0) with their lowest scoring output of the season, shot and made only half (3-15) their 3-point range average which was 6 of 31) and made a few more turnovers (18) than their average (16.8) and were out-rebounded (49-32).

“I thought we played great defense," said coach Foster. "They are a team that you can’t let shoot the 3-pointer and you can’t let them back-cut you. I thought we defended those two things fairly well and made them have to take the kind of shot they are not comfortable with. If they get the back-cut layups and get the good looks at three, they are hard team to beat.”

On a night when the UTC was voted in the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time in 31 years (No.25), the offense was not clicking at its usual pace – 62.5 ppg, 43.5 FG%, 35.1 % from 3-point range – so the defense took control.

The Blue and Gold won in steals (11-4), had fewer turnovers (18-6), less fouls (16-12) and controlled the boards (49-32).

Coach Foster pointed to the play of Moses Johnson off the bench to spell starting point guard Chelsey Shumpert who was scored only two points on the night and picked up here second and third fouls by the 17:26 mark of the second half and sat for nearly 12 minutes.

“Moses is a player that has a lot of talent, but what she does for us or what she needs to do for us is what she did tonight (five boards, eight points, one steal)," Foster stated. "She needs to be our best rebounding guard because she is our best rebounding guard and she needs to be a player who lets other people create plays,and she will find baskets."

By the time Shumpert re-entered the game, Johnson had four points, three rebounds and a steal.

* First Half: Senior Ka’Vonne Towns opened the scoring with a 3-pointer (18:35), expanded it to 16 (20-4) on a basket by Keiana Gilbert at 9:05 and were up 13 at intermission at 33-20. Towns and Gilbert led the victors with eight points each, while Taylor Reece led the Bulldogs with eight as well.

* Second Half: Samford cut the lead to single digits at 36-27 at 14:59 on a basket by Destiney Elliott, but a pair of baskets by Johnson and jumpers by Gilbert and Towns formed an 8-0 run for a 17-point lead (44-27, 9:29) and Samford was not able to get it to single digits again.

“When your two centers (Jasmine Joyner, Destiny Bramlett) go 2-for-16 from the field and you look up and you are up by 17, then it shows a team with good versatility,” Foster stated.

Red Payne said,” All our games will not be pretty so we need to rely on our defense which we did tonight.

“It is great to be in the top 25 and we came with a lot of energy, but we need to play hard every game.”

Gilbert (14) and Towns (13) led the team in scoring, while Reece had 10 points for Samford.

* Fewest Points Allowed: Samford’s 32 points is the lowest total allowed by UTC this season … the fewest since UTC gave up 31 in a 57-31 win against College of Charleston, Feb. 11, 2012 ... and fewest points scored by Samford this season.

* Win Streaks: UTC has won 14 straight overall ... six straight in SoCon play this season ... 40 straight SoCon wins.

Shooting:

FG% - UTC (19-54, 35.2%)  Samford (12-37, 32.4%)

3-Point% - UTC (2-16, 12.5%), Samford (3-15, 20.0%)

Chattanooga 49, Samford 32

Samford 20 -  12 – 32

UTC 33 – 16 – 49

Stats:

Points in the Paint: UTC, 24-18

Points Off Turnovers: UTC, 18-2

Second Chance Points, UTC, 6-2

Fast Break Points: UTC, 2-0

Bench Points: UTC, 10-5

  

The Last Time UTC Lady Mocs Were Ranked … 1984

Dr. Fred O’Bear was UTC Chancellor … he was in the house tonight cheering on the Mocs

Movies included The Natural, Ghost Busters, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and the Karate Kid

NBA champs – Boston Celtics defeated Showtime Lakers in the first Larry Bird-Magic Johnson NBA final

McKenzie Arena was in its second season of existence

Jim Foster was in his sixth year as head coach at St. Joe’s

Assistant coach Katie Galloway Burrows was 2-years-old

Ronald Reagan won a second term as president that fall

NCAA Champs: USC (women) and Georgetown (men)

contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net

UTC's Moses Johnson (23) had eight points and four rebounds off the bench against Samford.
UTC's Moses Johnson (23) had eight points and four rebounds off the bench against Samford.
photo by Dennis Norwood
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