Hamilton Reporter

The Chattanooga Mocs 'Big Three' combined for 64 points in the Mocs 78-70 overtime thriller against Mercer in the Roundhouse Saturday afternoon.

Raven Thompson had the hot hand early and ended with a career-high tying 23 points while Yazz Wazeerud-Din scored half of her points in the final 15 minutes for 23 as well. Abbey Cornelius added 18, scoring eight of her points in overtime.

Chattanooga shot 83.3 percent from the field in overtime, including a perfect 2-of-2 from deep while sinking eight free throws in the frame.

The Mocs improve to 10-8 overall and 2-1 against the Southern Conference while Mercer falls to 6-11 on the year and 2-2 in league play. 

Thompson got the Mocs scoring early with an 8-0 run by herself with a pair of steals to put UTC up 8-2 with 2:34 gone in the game. The Bears responded quickly, however, and the Mocs lead went away on Mercer's 8-0 run, falling behind 10-8 with 3:11 remaining in the opening quarter. 

Chattanooga matched that with their own 8-0 run that included a pair of 3-pointers from Wazeerud-Din and Thompson and retook the advantage, leading 16-12 at the first quarter break.
 The teams started the second quarter trading points with Mercer drawing to within two points at 20-18 at the 7:30 mark of the period. Chattanooga stepped on the gas and went on a 10-0 run for its largest lead at that point, 30-18 at 2:31 on a layup from Cornelius. The Mocs carried a 34-22 lead into intermission.
That lead wouldn't stay for long. Chattanooga had its largest of the game, 14 points, at the start of the third quarter, but a 14-2 run by Mercer erased it and the Bears pulled to within a pair, 40-38 with 1:17 remaining in the quarter.
The Mocs led 44-40 headed into the fourth, but Mercer would grab its first lead of the game since the opening basket in the period. The Bears tied it up 48-48 behind a pair of jumpers from Enjulina Gonzalez with 6:32 to play. They would tie it again moments later at 50-50 and take a 54-50 advantage on the Mocs on another layup from Gonzalez with 2:36 remaining in regulation.
Chattanooga briefly retook the lead on a 3-point play from Thompson with 1:37 on the clock. Gonzalez would again get a bucket to retake the lead (56-55) with 1:20 to go. Wazeerud-Din brought the crowd to its feet, sinking a 3-pointer from the left side with 27 seconds on the clock to make it 58-56, but Gonzalez wouldn't go away. She made a driving layup to tie the game 58-58 with 15 seconds on the clock.
Head coach Shawn Poppie called for time to advance the ball and drew up the final play of the game. A driving layup from the right side was blocked with no whistle and Mercer was unable to get a shot off after the rebound.
Chattanooga and Mercer headed into overtime for just the second time in the series.
Sigrun Olafsdottir sent a high arcing shot from deep to get the scoring started in overtime and Chattanooga never trailed again. The Bears pulled to within a point twice, but the Mocs hit 5-of-6 in the final five minutes, including a pair of 3-pointers, and made 8-of-11 from the free throw line. Cornelius hit two jumpers early in the extra time and the rest of her eight overtime points came from the free throw line. Wazeerud-Din added five points of her own while Olafsdottir, Thompson and Addie Grace Porter combined for seven.
Porter tied her career-high with seven assists, dishing out three in final five minutes. Wazeerud-Din topped 20 points for the seventh time this season and Thompson matched her career-high. Cornelius climbed to 25th all-time among UTC scorers, passing Kim Horsey (1,078 – 1981-84). She also climbed another spot in rebounds with 817 in her career, passing Taylor Hall (814 – 2010-14).
 
The Mocs shot 49.1 percent (27-55) for the game, shooting 45.5 percent or better in each of the first three quarters and in overtime. UTC was 6-of-14 from deep and 18-of-23 from the free throw line, second-best this season.
 
Gonzalez went 15-of-21 from the field and made all four 3-point attempts for a game-high 34 points. She added a team-best four rebounds and had three assists and two blocked shots. Amoria Neal-Tysor was the only other Bear in double figures with 10 points.
 
The Bears shot 53.4 percent for the game including a scorching 72.7 percent (8-11) from the field in the fourth quarter. The Bears were 8-of-11 from the free throw line. Mercer struggled from the arc, missing all five attempts, marking the first time a UTC opponent hasn't made a trey since UNCG failed to do so on February 19, 2021.
 
UTC's 3-point streak remains intact with the Mocs making at least one long-range bomb in 727 consecutive games dating back to December 1999.
 
UP NEXT
Chattanooga will hit the road to take on Wofford on Thursday next week and Furman Saturday.
1/19 at Wofford, 6 p.m.
1/21 at Furman, 2 p.m.
 
FROM THE HEAD COACH
"It could have went one of two ways obviously. But they really came together. I told them, I think, yesterday 'All right, we're gonna get to a spot four minutes to go we're gonna look up it's gonna be a one possession game and you're gonna be right back where you've been all year' and we could have folded there how we didn't finish a possession to finish in regulation, but my goodness, we were pretty darn good and overtime. Proud of that so many kids but just them in general to finally get over the hump a little bit.
 
TOP TAKEAWAYS
• Chattanooga scored 20 points in overtime.
• Raven Thompson, Yazz Wazeerud-Din and Abbey Cornelius combined for 64 of the Mocs 78 points.
• 78 points is the most scored by UTC this season … when scoring 70 or more points, UTC is 3-0 this season. 

Original source can be found here