College of Charleston
Chattanooga
College of Charleston rally falls short in 61-55 decision to defending champion Chattanooga
1/5/2009 5:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Sophomore guard Tonia Gerty (Port Orange, Fla.) scored 18 points as a late rally by the College of Charleston (8-5, 2-4) fell just short in a 61-55 loss to Chattanooga (10-7, 6-1) Monday evening in a Southern Conference women's basketball game at the Carolina First Arena in Charleston, S.C.
Trailing 48-39 with 6:38 remaining, Charleston used a 9-2 run, fueled by five points from junior guard Jade Hughes (Spartanburg, S.C.), to pull to within 50-48 with 4:03 to play. Chattanooga then quickly extended the lead back to 55-48 with a three-pointer by junior guard Jenaya Wade-Fray and layup from senior forward Erin Ogan.
A lay-up by junior forward Brooke Kotcella (Anderson, S.C.), a jumper by junior guard Ericka Williams (Blackville, S.C.) and a Hughes three-pointer made up a 7-2 Cougars rally that drew them to within 57-55 with 29 seconds to play. That would be as close as they would get, however, as the Lady Mocs sank four-of-five free throws down the stretch to secure the 61-55 victory.
In the first half, neither team was able to take a commanding lead as the two clubs battled through six ties and six lead changes. With UTC leading 9-7 at the 15:09 mark, Tonia Gerty scored all seven points in a 7-0 run to give Charleston a 14-9 lead with 13:06 left in the half. They pushed that advantage to 16-11 on a layup by junior center Deidra Jones (Irmo, S.C.) before Chattanooga battled back to tie the game at 16-16.
At that point, junior forward Shanara Hollinquest scored 12 straight points for the Lady Mocs to give them a 28-24 lead at the 2:45 mark. Erin Ogan would then sink a pair of free throws and a jumper to send Chattanooga to the half with a 32-26 advantage.
In the second half, UTC pulled out to a 40-30 lead before five straight points from Gerty closed the gap to 40-35 with 11:34 to go. From there, the Lady Mocs scored eight of the next twelve points to take their 48-39 lead before withstanding the Cougars late rally.
Hollinquest led the way for Chattanooga with a game-high 22 points, on 7-of-9 shooting, and 11 rebounds while Ogan notched a double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Wade-Fray rounded out the Lady Mocs double-digit scorers with 13 points and four assists.
For Charleston, Gerty finished with a team-high 18 points and three steals and Hughes tallied 10 points on the night. Senior forward Sarah Moye (Alpharetta, Ga.) delivered a team-high eight rebounds while Kotcella added five points and seven boards. Ericka Williams chipped in with six points, four rebounds and three steals and Nikki Williams finished with six boards.
The Cougars will begin a three-game road swing this weekend that will take them to Appalachian State for a 1:00 p.m. game on Saturday, January 10 before heading to Davidson on Monday, January 12. Charleston will wrap up the trip at Wofford on Saturday, January 17.
