Chattanooga women’s basketball team notches eighth win of season against Ohio | Local

The Chattanooga Mocs went on a 10-0 run late in the first quarter to take a four point lead and never looked back. The Mocs defeated Ohio 67-55 Sunday afternoon on the road in non-conference women’s basketball action to improve to 8-5 on the year.

The Bobcats, led by game-high scorer Yaya Felder, drop to 2-7 overall. Felder had 29 points, 11 in the first quarter. The Mocs held her to 11 in the second half and built its lead to double digits late in the third and led by as much as 16 in the final frame.

The Mocs’ first quarter run was owned by team-leading scorer Yazz Wazeerud-Din who hit back-to-back shots to spark the scoring push. She capped it off with a 3-pointer to put UTC up 17-13 with 1:32 to play in the period.

Chattanooga outscored the Bobcats in each quarter and led 32-27 headed into halftime. Ohio got as close as 36-34 at the 6:53 mark of the third, but Chattanooga would outscore the Bobcats 11-3 over the next four minutes to build its lead to double figures, 47-37, with 2:40 to play in the quarter.

The fourth quarter saw the Mocs hold on to the double-figure lead for all but 13 seconds. After a jumper from Ella Pope cut Chattanooga’s advantage to 49-40 at the 8:17 mark, Amaria Pugh connected on a free throw to put UTC back up by 10. That was the start of seven straight points for the Mocs to get to the 16-point lead, 56-40, with 5:59 to play.

Chattanooga’s scoring would go silent for nearly two minutes but its defense only gave up four points in that time. The Mocs pushed the lead back to 16 one more time in the game, getting out front 67-51 with 1:17 to play.

On the board, UTC held the Bobcats to an opponent low 19 rebounds and scored 11 points on eight offensive boards. Ohio had just two points on two offensive rebounds.

The difference in the game truly came at the free throw line. UTC was 25-of-28, a season-high for the Mocs, while Ohio was just 7-of-10.

Chattanooga started the game shooting 58.4% (7-12) in the opening period and closed out the game shooting 50 percent in the final quarter. UTC was 19-of-44 from the field and 4-of-14 from the 3-point line. Ohio was 21-of-46 and 6-of-20 from long range.

Wazeerud-Din scored a team-best 23 points, her sixth game this season with topping the 20-point mark. Raven Thompson added 18 points and seven rebounds while Abbey Cornelius had 12 points and a team-best eight rebounds. Addie Grace Porter went 6-of-6 from the free throw line and dished out three assists.

The Mocs are back in action Wednesday, Dec. 21 at Marshall. This will be the first game between the two programs since 1997 when Marshall played its last games in the Southern Conference. UTC won the last meeting 63-60 at Chattanooga.

The Mocs shot 43.2% for the game (19-44) and was 4-of-14 from the 3-point line. 44 field goal attempts was a season-low for the Mocs.

The difference in the game was at the free throw line. UTC was 25-28 from the charity stripe while Ohio was 7-of-10. 25 is a season-high. The last time UTC had 20 or more was Jan. 27, 2022 vs. Wofford (20). That’s the second best free throw percentage this season (.893).

Chattanooga outscored Ohio in each quarter and led 32-27 at the half.

Yazz Wazeerud-Din scored 20 or more points for the sixth time this season.

Yazz Wazeerud-Din, Raven Thompson and Abbey Cornelius led the Chattanooga Mocs to their second straight win. The women defeated Ohio 67-55 on Sunday.