Chattanooga, Tenn. – The Chattanooga Mocs closed out Saturday afternoon's contest on a 13-0 run to defeat the Furman women's basketball team, 60-52, in SoCon play at McKenzie Arena.
Furman falls to 12-6 on the season and 3-1 in league play while Chattanooga improves to 4-14 overall and 3-1 in the conference.
Taylor Petty poured in a season-high 21 points on 5-of-11 shooting, and went 9-for-10 at the free throw line, to lead the Paladins offensively.
Le'Jzae Davidson contributed 13 points.
Tierra Hodges finished with eight points while tying her season-high of 14 rebounds.
Lindsey Taylor came off the bench to score seven points.
Milica Manojlovic dished out five assists.
Nakeia Burks posted a team-high 17 points for the Mocs and was joined in double figures by Lakelyn Bouldin with 14. Eboni Williams compiled seven points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Bria Dial tied Williams for the team-lead with seven rebounds.
Furman took a 52-47 lead with 5:44 remaining in the game courtesy of a layup by Davidson. The Paladins would be held scoreless over the final 5:43 as Chattanooga outscored them 13-0 with eight of the points coming at the free throw line. Dena Jarrells knocked down a 3-pointer with 1:20 to go to put the Mocs ahead 56-52. Burks made 4-of-4 free throws over the final 20 seconds to secure the eight-point victory.
Furman did not trail in the first half after opening the game on an 11-2 run and took a nine-point lead at the 5:19 mark of the first quarter on a layup from Hodges. Leading 18-13 heading into the second quarter, the Paladins recorded the first six points of the period and built their lead out to 24-13 with 7:51 to go after Taylor connected on a pair of free throws. Furman held its largest lead of the game, 31-19, with 4:58 remaining before intermission following a layup by Petty. Chattanooga closed out the half on a 12-5 run and trailed 36-32 at halftime after scoring the final seven points.
The Mocs continued their run into the second half, scoring the first five points to go ahead 37-36. The third quarter featured a total of five lead changes and three ties. Petty gave the Paladins a 41-39 advantage at the 3:17 mark after knocking down a 3-pointer.
Celena Taborn trimmed Chattanooga's lead down to one point, 45-44, heading to the fourth quarter after making 1-of-2 free throws with 32 seconds left.
Furman concluded the game shooting 14-of-49 (28.6 percent) from the field and held a 35-33 advantage in rebounds. The Paladins led in points off turnovers (20-18), second chance points (8-2) and fast break points (14-9).
Furman begins a three-game homestand on Thursday, January 23 when it hosts UNC Greensboro at 7 p.m.
