Mocs Use Late Run to Hold Off Davidson, 72-64

Monday, January 6

Chattanooga, Tenn.

7:00 p.m.

Davidson College

6-9, 3-1SoCon

Chattanooga

12-3, 4-0SoCon

Davidson

Chattanooga

Photo by: Tim Cowie - DavidsonPhotos.com

Mocs Use Late Run to Hold Off Davidson, 72-64

1/6/2014 9:44:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Gavin McFarlin - Assistant SID

Box Score (html)
DavidsonPhotos.com

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Down by 15 points, Davidson battled back to take a late lead, but the Wildcats could not push further as the Mocs used a 14-6 run to close out the game and the win, 72-64, Monday night at The McKenzie Area in Southern Conference women's basketball action.

In a matchup of unbeaten teams through the first three SoCon games, Chattanooga (12-3, 4-0 SoCon) held off the Wildcats, who came all the way back to take a brief 56-54 lead with 3:49 left in the game. A pair of Dakota Dukes' free throws knotted things up at 58 with 2:27 remaining, but the Mocs responded with six straight points to take control.

Davidson fell to 6-9 overall and 3-1 in league play, and saw its four-game league win streak dating back to last year come to an end. Chattanooga pushed its regular season league win streak to 20 in a row dating back to last season and ran the second-longest home winning streak in the nation to 32.

Dukes led three Wildcats in double figures with 18 points, going a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe. Shannon Eriksson, fresh off a career-high 16 points Saturday, followed with 14 points and a career-best eight rebounds and Hannah Early added 12.

Chattanooga had just two reach double digits, with Taylor Hall getting 15 points and Tatianna Jackson scoring 10 off the bench.

Down 42-27 after a Hall jumper four minutes into the second half, Davidson started to chip away. A driving layup by Shneeka Center with 10:46 got the deficit to under 10 at 47-38 with 10:46 on the clock. An and-one play by Eriksson later made it 48-44 and then a few minutes after the converted three-point play, Murray got Davidson to within one, 54-53, on a baseline jumper.

After a missed Moc shot, Early fired from way downtown at the time of the circle and Davidson had a 56-54 lead with 3:52 left.

The lead went back-and-forth until Alicia Payne hit a shot clock buzzer-beater triple to make it 61-58 with 2:02. It sparked a 14-6 run to finish the game, including an 11-for-12 showing at the free throw line to seal the win.

Chattanooga finished 17-for-20 at the line, while Davidson was just as good at 12-for-13. The Mocs held a 40-25 edge on the glass, with 17 of them being on the offensive end.

The Wildcats shot 42.9 percent from the floor, but the Mocs countered at 44.6 percent and got 38 points in the paint.

A Murray layup five minutes into the game gave Davidson a 10-5 lead early. The lead though quickly turned into a deficit as the Wildcats got just a pair of Murray free throws over the next eight minutes, allowing the Mocs to go on a 15-2 run to grab a 20-12 lead.

The deficit grew to 10 points (29-19) on a Hall three-point play with 1:10 left in the half and a last-second three-pointer by Chelsey Shumpert before halftime saw the 'Cats go into the locker room down 32-21.

The Wildcats return home for a two-game stretch against Elon and UNCG, Jan. 11-13. Game times are 2 and 7 p.m.

GAME NOTES: Davidson fell to 3-17 all-time on the road at UTC and have dropped the last 15 straight … for the first time this year Murray was held to under 10 points, closing with nine ... this was Davidson's last trip to Chattanooga as a member of the SoCon … the Wildcats fell to 3-5 on the road this year.