Chattanooga, Tenn.- The UNCG women's basketball team (8-11, 0-4 SoCon) dug out of a 16-point deficit in the second quarter but came up short on the road at Chattanooga (13-5, 4-0 SoCon). The Mocs held off a second-half push by the Spartans to win 72-61 for their fourth Southern Conference win of the season. UNCG falls to 0-4 in league play and 8-11 overall and returns to action Wednesday, January 20, when the Spartans host Wofford at Fleming Gymnasium at 7 p.m.

Lucy Mason (Stone Mountain, Ga./Chamblee Charter) led all scorers with 26 points, shooting 10-of-25 from the field and a perfect six-for-six at the free throw line. Shanese Harris (Chesapeake, Va./Western Branch) was the only other Spartan in double-figures with 12 points shooting 60 percent from the field.

Chattanooga dashed out to an early lead in the first quarter and held a 13-4 advantage with 4:45 to go. UTC continued to pull away and led by as many as 14 points at one point but a buzzer-beating layup by Mason made it a 12-point deficit, 22-10, at the end of the quarter.  The Mocs took their biggest lead of the game, by 16, with 6:58 to go in the second but it was then that UNCG would spark an 11-3 run to cut the deficit to single digits and trail 31-23 at halftime.

Chattanooga shot 57.1 percent, 8-for-14, in the first quarter but made just four baskets on 14 attempts in the second to shoot 28.6 percent. The Spartans shot 32.3 percent from the field in the first half and was backed by Mason's game-leading 11 points. Through the first half, UTC was 7-for-7 at the free throw line and pulled down 23 rebounds, out-rebounded UNCG by eight. The Spartans made nine steals on 11 turnovers by the Mocs while Mariah Wilson (Atlanta, Ga./North Atlanta) had a game-leading two blocks.

Mason came out hot in the third quarter scoring the first seven of UNCG's points. A trey by Kaitlin Callahan (Windsor, Vt./Southern Maine) with 6:16 to play made it a two-possession game with UNCG trailing by six.

Wilson came up big with an and-one play scoring the basket and making her first free throw of the game to bring the game within three, 41-38, with 3:55 to play in the third. Another and-one play for the Spartans, this time by Harris made it a one-point Mocs lead, 41-40, with 3:10 to go and a jumper by Mason less than 30 seconds later. The two teams would exchange baskets throughout the remainder of the frame and UNCG held the lead, 48-47, after a last second jumper by Mason.

UNCG outscored UTC 25-16 in the third quarter as the Spartans dug out of the eight-point deficit they began the frame with. It marked the most points Chattanooga has allowed in a period all season. Prior to that it was 23 points scored by No. 1 UConn earlier in the season. The Spartans shot an impressive 66.7 percent in the frame shooting 10-of-15 from the floor and made all four shots at the charity stripe.

It was a back-and-forth battle through the first five minutes of the final quarter, with the score knotting five times by the 4:50 mark. Chattanooga took the lead, 58-56, with a layup by Aryanna Gilbert, and never again trailed. The Spartans went the next four minutes without a basket while a layup by Queen Alford followed by six-consecutive free throws for UTC made it a 10-point game. The Mocs finished the quarter connecting on 12-for-14 free throws, holding off the Spartans to win by 11 points.

UNCG shot 33.3 percent from the field in the final quarter while Chattanooga made six-of-seven shots from the floor for an 85.7 field goal percentage.  

Four Mocs scored in double figures in the win as UTC improves to 7-1 at home this season. The Spartans return to Fleming Gymnasium Wednesday night for a SoCon battle with Wofford (5-11, 0-3 SoCon) at 7. Prior to the start of the game, Mason will be recognized for breaking the program's all-time scoring record earlier this season.

-UNCG-