It's taken a while, but it seems as though Alex Black has gotten the shooting guard thing down pretty well.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior made all four of her 3-point attempts and tied Ashlen Dewart for team honors with 14 points Monday in a lackluster 68-46 Southern Conference women's basketball victory over Western Carolina in front of 1,763 fans at McKenzie Arena. The win was the nation-leading 37th straight at home, 17th consecutive and 29th in a row in conference play for the Mocs (21-3, 13-0).
It also helped them take a four-game lead over Davidson in the conference standings, with five games to play. The Wildcats fell 66-63 to Elon on Monday.
Black spent her first three seasons playing the point guard position but is starting to become more comfortable spotting up and taking shots at off guard. In her last five games, she is 9-for-17 from 3-point range.
"I guess it did take a little time getting used to, but I feel I'm getting more consistent," she said. "It's a different mentality, but I think I need to personally step up and score a little more this year."
Taylor Hall added 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists, while freshman Chelsey Shumpert had seven assists.
The Mocs shot 53 percent from the floor and had 20 assists to 12 turnovers, but it took awhile to speed up the slower-paced Lady Catamounts, who led 5-3 at the first media timeout. UTC responded with a 16-0 run, holding the visitors scoreless for 15:15 of game time. The Mocs led 28-17 at halftime.
Read more in tomorrow's Times Free Press.