CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – A career day on the floor from Koi Love helped Vanderbilt come back from a halftime deficit to defeat Chattanooga 80-78 on the road Sunday afternoon inside McKenzie Arena.
With Vanderbilt trailing 42-35 at halftime, Love did her part to keep the Dores in the game throughout the first 20 minutes in recording a first-half double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. While Vanderbilt was trailing 23-14 after the first 10 minutes, Love scored the first four points of the second quarter and set the pace for the Commodores to shoot 50 percent in the second frame to trail 42-35 at the break.
Momentum from the quarter carried over to the second half with Vandy using a 5-0 run to meet Chattanooga at 44-all with 7:19 to go in the third. While the Mocs answered with a 7-0 run to make it a 51-44 game with 4:48 left in the third, the Commodores chipped away and made it a five-point deficit at 57-52 after three quarters.
We. Have. The. Lead.
Alexander battles through harm on the inbounds play for a bucket and hits the free throw, we’re up ✌️. #AnchorDown pic.twitter.com/4uKSQLYtXF
— Vanderbilt WBB (@VandyWBB) December 13, 2020
In the fourth, Vanderbilt continued to pull its way back and took its first lead since the opening quarter on a three-point play on an inbounds pass under the basket to Brinae Alexander with 7:34 to go. From there, the Commodores pushed the lead to as many as six at 68-62 with a 7-0 run, but Chattanooga inched back within two at 72-70 with 3:40 to play.
Looking to run away in the closing minutes, Vandy used a 7-0 run with five points from Chelsie Hall and a jumper from Enna Pehadzic to build its largest lead of the afternoon at 79-70 with 36 seconds to play. While the Mocs hit a pair of 3-pointers down the stretch to close the margin, the run was enough for Vanderbilt to earn the road victory.
Love finished the day with 21 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. It stands as the second consecutive game Love has set a career best in boards after pulling down 13 in Tuesday’s win over ETSU.
Her 16 rebounds are the most in a game by a Commodore since assistant coach Marqu’es Webb pulled down 15 in a game against Tulane on Dec. 5, 2016.
Another big day from @koilove10 with 2⃣1⃣ points and 1⃣6⃣ rebounds.
The 16 boards are the most in a game for a Commodore since one of her coaches, @mwebb_22, pulled down 15 in 2016.#AnchorDown pic.twitter.com/oMWGMndx3z
— Vanderbilt WBB (@VandyWBB) December 13, 2020
Vandy also got double-digit scoring efforts from Hall, Alexander and Pehadzic. Hall closed the day with 19 points on 7 of 12 from the floor to go with six rebounds with Alexander added 14 points of her own. While Pehadzic was held to two points on just three shots in the first half, she added nine points to finished with 11 on the day to go with seven rebounds.
Chattanooga’s attack saw six players score between 10 and 15 points on the afternoon. Dena Jarrells led the way with 15 points while Abbey Cornelius had 13 points and a game-high 18 rebounds.
Back in action at Memorial Gymnasium for the final three games of the nonconference season, Vanderbilt returns home Thursday afternoon to meet VCU at 2 p.m. on SEC Network+. After that, the Dores will welcome Gardner-Webb on Dec. 20 and Samford on Dec. 28 to finish the 2020-21 nonconference slate.
