Dec. 17, 2003
Final Stats
Richmond, Ky. - Despite outrebounding Eastern Kentucky 42-27 in the game, the Western Carolina Lady Catamounts could never fully recover from a 16-point halftime deficit as WCU fell 93-71 to the Colonels at McBrayer Arena Wednesday night. The Cats drop to 1-6 on the season heading into conference play, while EKU evens its record at 4-4.
The Lady Colonels and Catamounts played evenly in the opening minutes as the score was tied at 12 with 12:18 to go in the first half. Yoneko Allen hit a 3-pointer to give Western its only lead at 10-9 then Jennifer Gardner grabbed an offensive board on the next trip down and scored on the put-back before Laura Shelton netted a trey for EKU to tie it up. Eastern then went on an 18-8 run capped by a Pam Garrett offensive rebound and put-back to go ahead 33-20 with 2:43 remaining in the half. Shelton's 3-pointer and a pair of free throws would push the EKU lead to 16 (38-22) at the break.
The Lady Colonels continued to dominate in the second half, pushing the lead to as many as 20 (70-50) with 8:40 to play after a layup by Miranda Eckerle on a pass from McCluney. The Catamounts pulled to within 13 (73-60) with just under six minutes to play, but that was as close as they would come. EKU outscored WCU 20-9 over the final six minutes to earn their first home victory of the season.
Senior Tiffany Hamm, playing in front of a "hometown" crowd, led all scorers with 21 points, adding eight boards, while Gardner tallied a season-high 18 points, grabbing a team-high nine rebounds. Freshman Erin May also recorded a season-high nine boards and had seven points.
Six Lady Colonels scored in double-figures led by Katie Kelly with 14 points and four assists. Omni McCluney added 11 points and six assists, while Leigh Carr chipped in with 12 points. Candis Cook and Garrett each had 10 points, while Cook added four assists. Garrett grabbed a team-high six rebounds - all in the first half. Point guard Laura Shelton notched 10 points and dished out five assists on the night.
EKU was outrebounded 42-27, but dished out a season-high 31 assists. Eastern Kentucky committed just eight turnovers on the night, while forcing 21 WCU mishaps. For the game, WCU shot 45.2 percent from the floor, while the Colonels shot 54.4 percent. Both teams shot 83.3 percent from the free throw line, each hitting 10-of-12 freebies.
The Catamounts head into their SoCon schedule Saturday as Western plays host to the Georgia Southern Eagles Dec. 20 at 4:00 pm in the RAC. WCU then heads to Davidson on Monday, Dec. 22, for the team's final game before the Christmas break.
