Feb. 27, 2010

Box Score

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The Chattanooga women's basketball team placed five players in double figures on its way to a 92-62 win over Samford Saturday evening at McKenzie Arena in the regular-season finale for both teams.

"I was disappointed in the way we competed," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "You have to give Chattanooga a lot of credit. They played well and shot the ball extremely well."

With the loss, Samford drops to 20-9 overall and 14-6 in Southern Conference play. The Bulldogs earn the No. 2 seed in next week's SoCon Tournament. Samford will open play in the tournament on Friday, March 5, against the winner of the game between the No. 7 and No. 10 seeds. The official pairings will be released later tonight.

Chattanooga improves to 21-8 overall and 16-4 in league play. The Lady Mocs earn the regular-season title for the 11th-straight season. Chattanooga will play Friday against the winner of the No. 8 vs. No. 9 game, immediately following Samford's game.

For Samford in the loss, Savannah Hill scored 18 points. Alex Crow scored 15 points, while Monica Maxwell added 10 points.

Chattanooga was led by Erin Helton with 17 points and nine rebounds. Shanara Hollinquest scored 16 points. Megan Rollins and Tenisha Townsend scored 13 points each, while Kayla Christopher added 12 points for the Lady Mocs.

Samford jumped out to an early 6-1 lead after two three-pointers by Megan Wilderotter, the second coming with 16:59 to go in the first half. Chattanooga scored the next eight points in a row to take a 9-6 lead with 13:51 to go in the first half.

The teams traded baskets over the next few minutes until, with Samford leading, 18-16, Chattanooga went on a 9-0 run to take a 25-18 lead with 8:03 to go in the half. After Samford cut the lead to 25-21, Chattanooga went on a 9-2 run to push its lead to 13 at 36-23 with less than a minute to go in the half. A late basket by Paige Anderson cut the Lady Mocs' lead to 36-25 at halftime.

In the second half, Chattanooga pushed its lead to 17 at 45-28 with 17:23 to go after a basket by Christopher. Samford fought back to cut the lead to 12 at 48-36 with 15:04 to go after a three-point play by Hill.

With Chattanooga leading, 52-38, Samford scored the next five points to cut the lead to nine at 52-43 with 12:30 to go after a three-pointer by Emily London. Samford cut the lead to eight at 56-48 and 59-41 with 10:23 to go after a three-pointer by Hill.

Chattanooga, however, answered with a 10-0 run to push its lead to 18 at 69-51 with 8:12 to go after a layup by Hollinquest. With Samford trailing, 69-54, Chattanooga went on a 13-2 run to push its lead to 26 at 82-56 with 4:47 after a pair of free throws by Jenaya Wade-Fray. Samford could get no closer than 24 the rest of the way as the Lady Mocs came away with the 92-62 win.

As a team, Chattanooga shot 57.7 percent from the floor, including a 54.5-percent effort from three-point range. Samford made 37.7 percent of its field goals and 24.1 percent of its three-pointers. The Lady Mocs out-rebounded the Bulldogs, 47-21.