The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga fell 58-57 at Furman Saturday afternoon in a game that came down to the wire. The Mocs fall to 12-7 on the year and 3-2 in Southern Conference women's basketball action and the Paladins move to 12-8 overall and 3-2 line league play.
Senior Keiana Gilbert and sophomore Lakelyn Bouldin combined for 40 of the Mocs 57 points with each scoring a game-high 20 points. Gilbert added 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the year. She was 9-of-16 in the game and grabbed four offensive boards.
Bouldin was 5-of-12 from long range.
Senior Aryanna Gilbert chipped in eight points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals in the effort with junior Molly Melton tallying four assists and a pair of steals.
The Mocs got out to an early lead, getting up 18-12 at the end of the first quarter. Furman, however, bounced back and carried a 32-29 advantage into halftime.
Chattanooga responded in the third quarter with a 13-5 run to start the period, building a 42-37 lead with 5:18 to play in the frame. That lead dwindled to just two points, 48-46 by the end of the period and Furman would retake the lead at the start of the fourth quarter.
The final period saw three lead changes and four ties. Le'Jzae Davidson hit a 3-pointer at the 8:13 mark of the fourth period to put the Paladins up 49-48 and DeAnneisha Jackson connected on the second of her two free throws to make it a 2-point Furman lead. Gilbert tied the game 50-50 with 5:54 to play on a jumper in the lane.
Furman retook the lead on a Celena Taborn free throw, 51-50, with 3:53 left on the clock. The Mocs responded on the ensuing play with Bouldin's fifth 3-pointer of the game and Chattanooga led 53-51 with 3:35 to play.
A layup and free throw by the Paladins over a 1:05 frame, put Furman back on top 54-53 with 1:32 to play. Bouldin, ranked 19th in the nation for free throw shooting, made one of her two attempts to tie it up 54-54 and Furman hit both of theirs to retake the lead, 56-54 with 41 seconds to play.
SoCon-leading free throw shooter Aryanna Gilbert tied it back up with a pair of shots from the charity stripe with 31 seconds on the clock.
After a pair of free throws put the Paladins up 58-56, the Mocs made just one of its two free throws and trailed by one point with four seconds to play.
Furman inbounded the ball and the Mocs fouled to put them on the line with just over one second remaining. They missed both free throws but it wouldn't be enough for the Mocs as the rebound was gathered in by Taborn.
Taborn led Furman with 19 points and game-high 18 rebounds. Davidson had 18 points and was 4-of-10 from the 3-point line. Cierra Carter had 11 points and eight boards.
Chattanooga was 22-of-67 from the field and 6-of-23 from beyond the arc. Furman outrebounded UTC 44-37 and shot 40.8 percent (20-49) from the field while making 13-of-24 (54.2%) from the charity stripe.
The Mocs return home to host Samford Thursday evening at the Roundhouse. The game is set to tip off at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are available online at GoMocs.com or at the McKenzie Arena box office.