GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Kayla Christopher scored 16 points, including the final four points of the game, to help Chattanooga slip past Furman, 60-57, in Southern Conference women's basketball action Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena.

The win was the seventh straight for Chattanooga (17-3, 10-1 SoCon), which entered the contest tied with Davidson atop the Southern Conference standings.

Furman (8-12, 4-7 SoCon), which had won its last two games prior to meeting UTC, got a game high 18-point performance from Brittany Hodges and 15-point effort from Teshia Griswold.

Ashlen Dewart's layup put Chattanooga up 56-55 with 2:21 to go, and Christopher then canned a jump shot on the Mocs' next possession to give UTC a 58-55 lead.  

Furman cut it to 58-57 on a pair of Hodges free throws with 34 seconds left, but Christopher converted two free throws with 15 seconds remaining to again stretch the lead to three at 60-57.  Following a timeout, Furman's Kaitlin Murphy's pressured 3-point shot attempt from the right wing bounced long off the rim into the hands of UTC's Ka'Vonne Towns for the game's final play.

Chattanooga's victory proved to more difficult this time around after the Mocs' roughed up an injury riddled Paladin squad, 83-40, in early December.  UTC trailed 39-32 five minutes into the second half before an 11-2 spurt gave the Mocs a 43-41 lead following a Towns 3-pointer at the 10:11 mark.

From that point Furman managed to forge a trio of three-point leads but twice Chattanooga drew even on 3-pointers — the first by Christopher that tied it at 49-49 with 6:14 to go, and another by Towns at the 4:38 mark that knotted it at 52-52.

Brigid Morrissey gave the Paladins their final lead of the contest when she drained a 3-pointer with 2:38 left, but UTC answered on the ensuing possession with a Dewart layup off a Towns assist to put the Mocs up 56-55.

Dewart, who logged only 20 minutes before fouling out, finished with 13 points.

Chattanooga shot 41.2 percent for the game (21-of-51) and converted 14-of-17 free throws (82.6 percent).  

The Paladins, who were outrebounded 45-27 in the season's first meeting with UTC, posted a 32-27 advantage on the boards in Saturday's contest, but 21 Furman turnovers proved costly, leading to 24-15 scoring advantage for Chattanooga off miscues.

Furman found the mark on 18-of-42 field goal attempts (42.9 percent) and continued their recent solid work at the free throw line, making good on 19-of-23 attempts (82.6 percent).

Sarah Durdaller, who didn't play the first time against UTC due to an injury, led all rebounders with 10 caroms, and Hodges finished with nine.

Morrissey tallied a game high seven assists to go along with eight points.