Total dominance: UTC whips Wofford women

photo UTC forward Ashlen Dewart (44) shoots over Wofford guard Ashton Fleming (15) during the Lady Mocs' Southern Conference basketball game against Terriers on Saturday at McKenzie Arena.
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Everybody played. Everybody scored. University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball coach Jim Foster couldn't have drawn it up any better.

The Mocs shot 53 percent from the field Saturday and cruised to a 75-36 victory over Wofford in front of 2,198 fans at McKenzie Arena.

Ashlen Dewart was the only Moc in double figures with 19 points as the hosts improved to 15-3 overall and 7-0 in the Southern Conference. It was their 11th consecutive victory, 23rd straight conference win and 33rd straight home win -- tops in the nation. They host Furman at 2 p.m. Monday.

All 13 players who dressed for UTC scored, and only freshman Chelsey Shumpert played more than 25 minutes. The team focused on getting the ball inside, finishing with 48 points in the paint. Foster attributed that to good ball movement, as the Mocs had 23 assists, led by Shumpert's five. She also scored nine points and tied Taylor Hall for team honors with three steals.

"If you move the ball and you move yourselves, you'll get good opportunities," Foster said. "In the second half, I thought we ran a lot better; we had wider lanes and were able to attack the basket better. It's good to get everybody an opportunity in a game like this. We have 13 players and playing 13 is not something that's easy to do, so when you have days that you have an opportunity to do it, we'll do it."

Hall also had three of the team's 10 blocked shots. She, Dewart, Aryanna Gilbert and Moses Johnson had six rebounds apiece.

"Personally, I think games like this are dangerous," Dewart said. "You can't come out lackadasical. I thought we did a good job of coming out strong. You can't relax, because everybody in the conference can come back and cause problems, so I thought we did a good job of playing consistently."

It took two and a half minutes for the Mocs to score, but once Dewart got a basket inside to fall, they got into a rhythm. Their lead reached double figures on a 3-pointer by Shumpert at the 12:27 mark of the first half, and by the time Ka'Vonne Towns scored on a transition layup, the margin had swelled to 20. They led 34-14 at halftime after shooting 45 percent from the field, and they bumped that up to 61 percent in the second half.

"I don't think we changed anything as far as our attack. We just let the game come to us," Shumpert said. "Coach is always telling us to be patient, and we moved the ball really well. Games like this are mental, but we need that mental toughness down the stretch because late in the season, teams are going to come after us."

Ashton Fleming had 10 points to lead the Lady Terriers (3-14, 1-5).

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6311. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.

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