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ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Jada Guinn scored 18 of her 32 points in the fourth quarter to lead Chattanooga to its 20th Southern Conference Tournament championship and 17th NCAA Tournament berth with a 69-60 win over UNC Greensboro on Sunday.The top-seeded Mocs (28-4) took the lead for good early in the second quarter but couldn’t put away the second-seeded Spartans (21-11), who handed Chattanooga its only loss in 18 conference games.
Both times UNCG got within a point in the third quarter, Guinn answered and then she took over in the fourth quarter. Guinn had a pair of three-point plays down the stretch and had a basket in isolation that all but clinched it with 39.2 seconds left. She added two free throws to close out the Mocs’ second straight championship.
“The trust in my teammates, the confidence my coaches had in me. I wanted to do that for them,” Guinn said. “I just went out and did it,”
Guinn, a graduate transfer from Tennessee Tech who was the MVP in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament last year, had a career-high 33 points in Chattanooga’s semifinal win. After going 4 of 10 in the first half when the Mocs took a 32-29 lead, she was 9 of 13 in the second half and 6 of 8 with six free throws in the fourth quarter.
“She’s special. She doesn’t care how many points she scores as long as we win,” second-year coach Shawn Poppie said. “She’s so dynamic … she split a lot of gaps and put us on her shoulders. It’s what she came here for.”
Raven Thompson added 14 points for Chattanooga, including the only two points not scored by Guinn in the fourth quarter. Thomson and Guinn combined to give the Mocs a 13-for-13 game at the foul line.
Caia Elisaldez’s buzzer-beating layup gave Chattanooga a 49-43 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Ayanna Khalfani had 15 points, eight rebounds and six assists to lead the Spartans, who were trying to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since their only appearance in 1998. Isys Grady added 12 points. Jayde Gamble, who had 28 in UNCG’s semifinal win, was held to eight on 2-of-7 shooting.
Hannah Kohn went 3 of 3 from the 3-point line in the first half to help give Chattanooga the three-point lead. Thompson had a 3-pointer to start the 11-0 run and Kohn’s 3 gave the Mocs the lead for good. Thompson converted a three-point play to make it 21-14.
A 7-0 run helped the Spartans lead 12-10 after one quarter when the teams combined to shoot 7 of 26.
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