Brooke Anya has been the consummate teammate throughout her first season at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
If she's not in the game when one of her fellow Mocs scores a basket, the 6-foot graduate transfer from Hofstra — she played in all 32 games for the Pride last season after three years at Longwood — will sprint down the sideline, high-fiving every single UTC teammate, coach and manager on the bench.
But it was her turn Thursday night at McKenzie Arena, where Anya scored a career-high 26 points — including her first 3-pointer since Feb. 8, 2023 — as the Mocs took over in the fourth quarter to defeat Samford 69-63, securing their third win in the past four games.
"Tonight felt great," said Anya, who also had six rebounds, three steals and a block in her 25 minutes. "It's a lot of stuff that happens behind the scenes, and we're celebrating all the time. It just so happened that everybody got to see it today, but we're a team that celebrates every little moment for every single person on this team because in order to win we need everybody — not just one person."
The Mocs, who improved to 7-9 overall and 2-1 in the Southern Conference, will play the second matchup of a three-game homestand when they host Mercer at 2 p.m. Saturday. The Bears (6-11) are 1-1 in the SoCon after opening their league schedule with a 56-53 home win against Samford last Saturday before losing 70-46 at East Tennessee State on Thursday.
After a slow start to Deandra Schirmer's first campaign as head coach due to some preseason injuries to key players causing a shift in the rotation, the Mocs appear to be on more solid ground, bouncing back against Samford (5-13, 0-2) five days after a 62-48 loss to UNC Greensboro in North Carolina, where a lackluster first half was costly.
The latest game wasn't easy, either, as the two-time reigning SoCon champions fell behind by eight in the first half and trailed 36-34 at the break. The Bulldogs had stretched their advantage to six points at 53-47 after three quarters before UTC dominated on both ends in the fourth. In that final period, UTC limited Samford to 4-for-13 shooting from the field and forced four turnovers; the Mocs shot 7-for-12 and made all but one of their eight free throws, which was essential to closing out the victory.
Anya, a native of Washington, D.C., scored eight of her career-high total in the fourth quarter, while Gianna Corbitt, who finished with 15 points and nine rebounds, had seven and six, respectively, in the final 10 minutes. Caia Elisaldez totaled 14 points and eight assists while playing 39 minutes, and veteran starter Sigrun Olafsdottir went all 40 and tallied five assists, four rebounds, two steals and a block.
"I think once we get into conference, every game is going to be a dogfight," Schirmer said. "Samford shot the ball really well in the first half, and to withstand that a little bit and have the stamina to finish out a game and really be able to have great situational basketball down the stretch, I'm very, very proud of this group.
"I feel like the whole year we've been talking about, we're going to get there, we're going to learn our lessons. I thought you saw that down the stretch, when it was a close game, we were able to stand up and make some huge adjustments and make some big plays down the stretch. Tonight we knew that Brooke had an advantage, and she came in and played well. I'm proud of her effort tonight."
Samford's quartet of double-digit scorers was led by Kennedy Langham, who had 22 points on 8-for-16 shooting and also grabbed nine rebounds as the teams finished with 29 apiece. Alonya Waldon added 13 points with a pair of 3-pointers, while Aubrey Blankenship and Claire Johnson each scored 10 points.
At the 6:44 mark of the first quarter, UTC senior Karsen Murphy made a 3-pointer — her second long-range attempt of the game and the Mocs' fourth — on an assist from Elisaldez, thus assuring the program would continue its streak of at least one triple for the 792nd consecutive game dating to December 1999.
UTC's streak became the longest active run in NCAA Division I women's basketball when Iowa State's even longer stretch ended Tuesday night during the Cyclones' 71-58 loss to Texas Tech. Until going 0-for-7 from behind the arc against the Red Raiders, the Cyclones had made at least one 3 in 945 consecutive games dating to Feb. 19, 1995, at Colorado.
Compiled by Gene Henley. Contact him at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.