The Chattanooga women’s basketball team improved to 9-2 on the year with Wednesday afternoon’s 66-57 win at Alabama-Birmingham in the Lady Mocs’ final non-conference contest of the season.
Junior Ashlen Dewart posted her second double-double of the year — 23 points and 12 rebounds — while freshman Tatianna Jackson (11) and senior Kylie Lambert (10) also scored in double figures in the hard-fought victory.
The Lady Mocs, who trailed 28-23 at the break, struggled from the field in the first half before they finally started sinking some shots in the second. Dewart scored UTC’s first eight points of the period as the team shot 52 percent (13 of 25) from the field in the second half, including 4 of 9 from beyond the arc.
Dewart made three straight shot attempts to start the second half and hit a pair of free throws to bring Chattanooga to within 33-31 with 16:24 remaining, and senior Kylie Lambert drained her second of two 3-pointers to give the Lady Mocs a 34-33 edge with 15:58 left.
The two teams traded the lead over the next six minutes with UAB stretching its advantage to as much as four. Trailing 42-39 with 9:42 remaining, Chattanooga sophomore Ka’Vonne Towns hit a layup and freshman Tatianna Jackson followed with a free-throw to tie the game for the fourth and final time.
A Towns 3-pointer gave the Lady Mocs a 45-42 advantage with 6:19 left, and the team never looked back. UTC closed the game by making 6 of 8 from the field and 7 of 8 from the free-throw line.
Dewart finished 9 of 16 from the field and 5 of 7 from the stripe in 31 minutes of action, while Jackson went 9 of 11 from the free-throw line and finished with six rebounds, one assist, a steal and a blocked shot.
The Lady Mocs outrebounded the Blazers 43-28, and finished with 16 offensive boards compared to UAB’s nine. Chattanooga outscored its opponent 20-3 on second-chance points, and scored 23 points off 16 Blazers turnovers. Ashley Grimes scored 17 to lead UAB (9-4), while Amber Jones finished with 14 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
The Lady Mocs resume SoCon play Saturday afternoon at UNC Greensboro (2 p.m.) before heading to Elon for a 7 p.m. game against the Lady Phoenix on Monday.