Wildcats improve to 8-2 in Southern Conference

Davidson College Sports Information
Davidson’s Katrin Chiemeka made a free throw with 16.2 seconds left, and the Wildcats forced Chattanooga to use the whole clock and fire an errant 3-pointer at the buzzer to hang on to a 56-52 Southern Conference women’s basketball victory Monday night in Belk Arena.

Chiemeka finished with seven points, five rebounds and three assists for Davidson (12-7, 8-2 SoCon), and Sophia Aleksandravicius posted 15 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots. She went over the 200 career block mark with her third block of the game.

Laura Murray scored 13 points, all in the second half, and Barbara Sitton netted nine, all in the first frame. Sitton also collected eight rebounds and five assists.

Whitney Hood led Chattanooga (13-6, 8-2 SoCon) with 18 points and seven rebounds, and Ka’Vonne Towns posted eight points, five rebounds and four assists.

After a Hood free throw made the score 53-50, Murray answered with a driving layup to put the Wildcats back up five with 45 seconds left. Tenisha Townsend drew a foul and buried two free throws for Chattanooga with 39 seconds remaining, leaving the margin at three points.

The Lady Mocs had fouls to give and brought full-court pressure. Davidson worked the ball around, and began a drive to the basket with seven seconds left on the shot clock, when Lady Moc Kylie Lambert was whistled for a foul.

With only 18 seconds left, Chattanooga was forced to foul Chiemeka and put her on the free-throw line. The junior hit the first end of the one-and-one and missed the second, but the Wildcat defense forced Chattanooga to use too much time on its offensive possession.

With the score tied 35-35 midway through the second half, Murray hit two triples, and Chiemeka added another in an 11-3 run that opened a 46-38 lead with 8:01 to play. The Lady Mocs got to within three points twice, but would get no closer the rest of the game.

The Wildcats held Chattanooga to 3-of-17 from the 3-point line in the game and used a season-high tying 19 offensive rebounds to score 16 second-chance points. Overall, Davidson outrebounded Chattanooga 45-40.

Sitton’s jumper ignited an 11-3 Davidson run in the first half as the Cats pushed a one-point lead into a 20-11 advantage. The junior had five points during the run, and Jasmine Calin added a pair of layups.

The Lady Mocs countered by scoring the game’s next 12 points to open a 23-20 advantage with 4:51 left and went into the locker room leading 27-25.

FURMAN HERE JAN. 30

The Wildcats have a week off before hosting Furman Jan. 30, at 7 p.m. in Belk Arena.

Game Notes: It was Davidson’s second win over Chattanooga in the last 26 meetings and ended a four-game losing skid to the Lady Mocs… The Wildcats improved to 8-1 in Belk Arena this season… Aleksandravicius posted her eighth double-double of the season, fourth in the last five games, and 27th in her career… Murray has scored in double figures in 15 straight league games.