Top-Seeded Chattanooga Advances to the Championship with 72-56 Win Over #4 Furman

GREENVILLE, SC -- Junior Damita Bullock and sophomore Tishay Lewis each scored in double-digits as Chattanooga defeated Furman 72-56 in the first semifinal of the Mountain Dew Southern Conference Women¹s Basketball Tournament at the BI LO Center.

Chattanooga will meet the winner of #2 Georgia Southern and #3 UNC Greensboro Sunday, March 4 at noon.

Chattanooga jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the first half before Furman scored its first basket at the 17:38 mark. Furman cut the lead to two but the Lady Mocs rebounded by going on an 18-4 run over seven minutes. The Lady Paladins were scoreless for four minutes before a layup by senior Torrie Scott ended the drought with 6:02 left in the half.

Chattanooga led by as much as 24 in the first half, taking a double-digit lead with 10:54 remaining which they kept throughout the half. UTC took a 41-21 lead into the lockerroom. UTC was able to maintain its big lead in the second half, leading by more than 20 on seven occasions.

Furman, which outscored Chattanooga 35-31 in the second half, was paced by five-year senior Tara Charles. Charles scored 11 of her 17 points in the second stanza and finished the contest a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line. In addition, Furman freshman Kim Lawrence scored eight of her 10 points and had nine rebounds in the second half.

Bullock led the Lady Mocs with 12 points while Lewis added 11. Freshman Miranda Warfield pulled down a team-high eight rebounds and scored nine points. Furman¹s Lawrence was 5-of-11 from the field and pulled down 11 rebounds to record her second double-double of the year.

Chattanooga improved its record to 5-0 when holding its opponent to under 60 points.

Chattanooga (23-6) advances to the championship game Sunday for the first time since 1992. UTC is 5-0 in championship appearances with the most recent championship coming in 1992 with a win over Furman.