CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Sophomore guard Jenaya Wade-Fray (Madison, Ala.) connected on a three-pointer from the corner to break a 49-49 tie with 2:02 to play and Chattanooga (5-2) converted on five of six free throws down the stretch to come away with a 57-54 victory over Middle Tennessee (3-2) Wednesday evening in a non-conference women's basketball game at McKenzie Arena.
Leading 52-49, the Lady Mocs stretched their lead to 54-49 behind two free throws from senior forward Alex Anderson (Stone Mountain, Ga.) with 49 seconds to play before Blue Raiders senior forward Amber Holt (Duluth, Ga.) drilled a three-pointer from the corner at the 29-second mark to close the gap to 54-52. That would be as close as they would get as UTC sank three-more free-throws and weathered a last second try to lock up the three-point victory, 57-54.
After a number of runs by both teams in the first half, the Lady Mocs found themselves trailing 25-16 with 5:34 to play in the first half. At that point, Chattanooga got back in the game as they put together a 12-4 run behind seven points from junior forward Erin Ogan (Knoxville, Tenn.) to head to the break down one, 29-28.
UTC's hot streak continued into the second half as they opened with an 11-4 run to pull out to their largest lead of the game, 39-33, with 13:51 to play. That stretch capped off an overall run of 23-8 over a period of 11:45. MTSU narrowed the gap to 39-37 with a mini 4-0 run before the teams traded baskets for much of the next five minutes, eventually settling at a 45-45 tie with 6:00 to play.
Four free-throws from Anderson and two layins from the Blue Raider's Amber Holt over the next three minutes then knotted the score at 49-49, setting up the Lady Mocs late game heroics.
For the game, Holt led the way offensively for MTSU with a game-high 19 points to go along with seven rebounds while senior guard Starr Orr (Danville, Ala.) and freshman guard Anne Marie Lanning (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 and 10 points respectively.
Chattanooga's balanced attack was led by sophomore forward Shanara Hollinquest (Sylacauga, Ala) who finished with a team-high tying nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds while Wade-Fray added nine points and seven rebounds. Anderson connected on all six of her free throws and contributed eight points and five rebounds and Ogan finished with eight points on three-of-four shooting. Senior forward Kristen Spann (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) and senior guard Laura Hall (Oliver Springs, Tenn.) each finished with seven points while Hall dished out a game-high five assists.
As a team, Chattanooga shot 80 percent from the foul line, connecting on 16-of-20 from the line, including 13-of-15 in the second half, while Middle Tennessee attempted only two foul shots, connecting on both.
The Lady Mocs will return to action on Saturday, December 1 when they travel to Alabama A&M for a 6:30 p.m. contest.
NOTES
The 54 points allowed by the Lady Mocs was one shy of tying the lowest output they have ever allowed against Middle Tennessee in the series 39 game history ... the all-time low is 53 set in a game on January 18, 1975.
