League-Leading Chattanooga Holds Off Bears

Friday, January 30

Chattanooga, Tenn.

6 p.m.

Mercer University

12-9,2-4SoCon

Chattanooga

14-5,6-0SoCon

Mercer

Chattanooga

1/30/2026 8:08:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Southern Conference-leading Chattanooga shot better than 50 percent from the field and used a 14-4 run midway through the third quarter to pull away for good as the Mocs held off visiting Mercer, 72-59, on Friday evening in McKenzie Arena.

It was the third-straight loss for the Bears (12-9, 2-4 SoCon) who forced 17 turnovers in the setback, while also logging seven 3-pointers. Chattanooga (14-5, 6-0) pushed its win streak out to 10 games with the result, while also upping its home record out to 8-2 this season.

THE BASICS

SCORE: Chattanooga 72, Mercer 59
RECORDS: Mercer 12-9 (2-4 SoCon); Chattanooga 14-5 (6-0 SoCon)
LOCATION: Chattanooga, Tenn. (McKenzie Arena)

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST QUARTER

The Bears shot 40 percent from the field in the opening stanza, and nearly tripled up Chattanooga on the glass, to forge a 15-12 advantage through 10 minutes of play. The Mocs opened up the scoring with a 3-pointer from Izzy McPherson just 18 seconds into the contest, but the Bears answered with eight-straight points over the next three minutes to swing the momentum early.

2ND QUARTER

It was Chattanooga's turn with the hot hand in the second quarter as the Mocs connected on 10 of their 19 field goal attempts, while also posting a 13-4 advantage in the rebounding column, to eventually lug a 37-25 lead into the intermission. UTC tacked up the first 10 points of the period to take the lead for good, but eventually padded their advantage out to double digits, 35-25, on Gianna Corbitt's layup with 51 ticks left.

3RD QUARTER

Mercer scored seven-straight points amid the opening four minutes of the third period to eventually pull to within two possessions, 39-35, following an old-fashioned 3-point play from Rania Curry at the 6:46 mark. The Mocs got off of their heels after that, however, connecting on five of their next six shot attempts to pad their lead back out to as many as 14 points, 53-39, after Caia Elisaldez's running layup with 1:09 left in the frame.

4TH QUARTER

The Bears shot nearly 43 percent from the field in the fourth quarter, but Chattanooga countered with 57.1 percent shooting to hold off any comeback attempts. The Mocs took their largest lead of the evening, 59-42, on Caia Elisaldez's layup at the 8:10 mark, but Mercer scored the next six points and threatened to whittle its deficit down to single digits.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

+ Junior Micah O'Dell registered 13 points on 5-for-12 shooting, while also logging a trio of rebounds.
+ Sophomore Talia Kemp chipped in 11 points, three rebounds and a pair of assists, and finished the outing with a 5-for-7 shooting clip as well.
+ Freshman Rania Curry tallied a team-best three steals to go along with seven points, four rebounds and two assists.

NOTABLES

+ The Bears got solo blocks from both Talia Kemp and Ariana Bennett on Friday evening, and have now recorded multiple blocks in 13-straight games.
+ Mercer went 7-for-17 (.412) from the perimeter against Chattanooga – their best 3-point shooting night since going 11-for-22 from downtown on December 14 in Macon.
+ MU's 8-for-11 success rate from the free throw line on Friday marked the sixth-straight time that the Bears have finished with at least 70 percent shooting from the charity stripe.

UP NEXT

The Bears will close out their Tennessee road trip on Sunday when they make the short hop to Johnson City, Tenn., to lock horns with East Tennessee State (10-11, 3-3 SoCon) in Brooks Gymnasium. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.

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BACK THE BEARS

Fans can help support the Mercer athletics department by making a gift to the Mercer Athletic Foundation. To find out more information about the Mercer Athletic Foundation, email maf@mercer.edu.