Jan. 5, 2002

Final Stats

Chattanooga, Tenn. - Chattanooga shot 50 percent from the field and handed out 23 assists to defeat Western Carolina 79-41 Saturday afternoon at The McKenzie Arena.

Chattanooga (7-5 overall, 2-2 SoCon) had a double-digit lead less than six minutes into the contest and never let up. It was a 20-point lead midway through the first half and the advantage was never less than 21 the rest of the way.

Katie Galloway and Nneka Irons paced UTC's offense with 12 points each. Miranda Warfield had nine points and tied a career high with eight boards. Tiffany Patton and freshman Shamya Sermons both had six rebounds, and Patton scored a career-best eight points.

Western was led by Laura Echols, who scored 11 points, and Tiffany Hamm, who tied for game-high honors with eight rebounds. The Catamounts committed 23 turnovers and only had eight assists.

As a team, UTC drained 10-for-17 on 3-pointers (58.8 percent) and had a 48-37 advantage on the boards. Western only shot 23.3 percent from the field, making just 5-of-22 3-pointers.

WCU (8-4, 1-3) had a brief 3-2 lead, but Chattanooga scored the next 15 points led by three Patton buckets and two Heather McDivitt 3-pointers. WCU did not break double digits on the scoreboard until the final seven seconds of the first half as UTC took a 39-11 lead at intermission.

The Catamounts made a brief 7-2 run to start the second half, but UTC quickly thwarted the effort and led 48-18 with 14:55 to play. UTC continued to build on the lead and had a 40-point advantage on three occasions in the second half.

Western Carolina will play the second of its two-game road swing, facing Georgia Southern in Statesboro, Ga., on Monday (Jan. 7). Game time is set for 7 pm.