UTC Rallies to Top Arkansas State, 55-54

Keiana Gilbert Hits Winning Shot

  • Wednesday, November 25, 2015
  • B.B. Branton

Just call ‘em the comeback kids, and kids – i.e. young ladies – who are plenty thankful for a win on Thanksgiving Eve.

For the second time in three games, the UTC Mocs (4-2) rallied for a win as they handed previously unbeaten Arkansas State (3-1), 55-54, its first loss of the young season in McKenzie Arena Wednesday night before 1,189 fans.

Down by as many as 17 (44-27) midway through the third quarter, the Mocs fought back and found themselves down one (54-53) with the ball and 22 ticks on the clock before sophomore Keiana Gilbert banked in a short jumper with 6.6 seconds showing on the arena scoreboard.

With an opportunity to win it, Arkansas State went to senior Aundrea Gamble whose last second left-handed layup rolled off the rim at the buzzer (rebounded by UTC’s Moses Johnson) and the Mocs had their victory.  The win avenged a 59-57 road loss to the Red Wolves last year.

Rally Caps: In a 53-48 overtime win against Southern Miss. (Nov. 20), the Mocs trailed 37-30 at the end of three quarters before going on a 23-9 run to win.

In the 59-57 loss to Tennessee Monday, the Mocs trailed the Lady Vols by 23 at 36-13 in the second quarter before losing by only two.

On the Mocs final defensive stand, Keiana Gilbert (who turned out to be the hero at both ends of the floor in the final seconds) said, “I guarded her (Gamble) close, but didn’t want to foul her and she missed the last shot.”

Gamble, who led all scorers with 17 points, gave ASU its final lead at 54-53 on a pair of free throws on Red Payne’s fifth foul before Gilbert’s heroics.

On her game-winning shot, Gilbert said, “the play broke down and I was able to get the loose ball and drive to the basket and used the back board on the shot.”

“I am proud of Keiana for using the back board on that last shot as she usually doesn’t do that,” said Jas Joyner with a smile who had 12 points, four rebounds four assists and two blocks on the night.

“We need to keep encouraging her to bank her shots.”

Gilbert, who was 7-for-7 from the field on the night, scored the Mocs final six points on three layups in the final 97 seconds to overcome a 52-49 deficit.

“I wanted Keiana to create her shot at the end as she had made all six of her shots before the game winner,” said UTC coach Jim Foster. “But I need her to take 15-18 shots a game.”

Going Small: The Mocs went small late in the third quarter as Anna Claire Noblit (5-7, So.) came off the bench and hit a pair of 3s to spark a 13-0 run to close out the quarter and cut the ASU lead to 44-40.

Noblit, the Alabama 1A player of the year two years ago, ended the game with career bests in points (9) and 3-pointers made (3).

“My shot felt really good tonight and after I hit that first 3 my confidence went up 100%,” stated Noblit with a smile.

“I was really excited to get to play tonight and I got that extra boost of confidence after the first shot went in.”

Foster also played Molly Melton (5-4) for five minutes in the fourth quarter after going big early on as Ansley Chilton (6-3) and Sydney Vanlandingham (5-11) combined for five points, four rebounds and a steal in 10 minutes off the bench in the first half.

“We have interchangeable parts as we went small tonight in the second half and went big against UT,” Foster stated.

Raining "3s":  ASU opened the third quarter by making 5 for 5 from 3-point land to go from up four to up 16 in three minutes.

Jessica Flanery and Khadi Brown-Haywood had two each and Gamble the fifth, three before Aryanna Gilbert's layup ended the run at 6:22 and Mocs trailed 44-32 at 5:28.

Enter Noblit: Foster put Noblit in the game at 6:10 and she hit from down town at 5:58 (down 44-30) and at 3:34 (down 44-37). Payne hit her only 3 of the night at 2:55 to pull within four, 44-40. 

 "Except for that three minute stretch to start the third quarter, we played well on defense," Foster stated.

12 Straight at Home: The Mocs hold a 12-game home win streak in the last two seasons heading in to Saturday's game with UT-Martin at 6 p.m. ... No.1 UConn comes her Mon Nov. 30

UTC 55, Arkansas State 54

Ark State 14 – 12 – 18 – 10 – 54

UTC 12 – 13 – 15 – 15 - - 55

Records: UTC (4-2) Arkansas State (3-1)

 Top Scorer: Aundrea Gamble (ASU) 17 … Keianna Gilbert (UTC) 14

Top Rebounder: Khadi Brown-Haywood (ASU) 10, Keianna Gilbert (UTC), 8

FG%: UTC (23-45, 51.1%)  ASU (19-52, 36.5%)

FT%: UTC (3-5, 60%), ASU (7-7, 1.000%)

3-Pt FG %: UTC (6-15, 40%), ASU (9-24, 37.5%)

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

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