Dec. 22, 2003
Final Stats
Davidson, N.C. - An 11-1 stretch a few minutes into the second half by visiting Western Carolina was the difference as the Catamounts held off the Davidson women's basketball team, 62-54, Monday night in Belk Arena. The win snapped a seven-game losing skid for Western Carolina (2-7, 1-1 SoCon) while the Wildcats (5-5, 2-1) lost their first home game of the season.
Trailing 28-26 at the 16:24 mark in the second period, Western's Christy Blackwell connected on a three-pointer that seemed to ignite the Catamount offense. Western Carolina proceeded to hit its next three shots as well, two of which were trifectas by Yoneko Allen, to turn the two-point deficit into an eight-point cushion, 37-29, with 14:27 to play.
A layup by Janell Crayton followed by Katie Hamilton's jumper got Davidson back to within five, 38-33, with 12:50 showing on the clock, but that would be as close as the host team could get the rest of the way.
Western Carolina did not hit a field goal in the last five minutes of the game, but connected on eight free throws to seal its first conference win of the season.
Poor shooting haunted the Wildcats all night. Coming into the contest, Davidson was leading the league in free throw shooting at 74.4 percent. However, the 'Cats only notched 10-of-20 (50.0 percent) attempts from the charity stripe against WCU, while Western shot 70 percent from the line (21-of-30). Davidson also took 15 more shots and grabbed 10 more offensive rebounds than Western. However, those numbers were negated by 30.8 percent shooting (20-of-65) from the floor.
Four players were in double figures for Western Carolina led by Allen's 14 points. Jennifer Gardner tallied 13 points while Tiffany Hamm added 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for her third double-double of the season.
Our team gave an excellent effort tonight," WCU head coach Beth Dunkenberger said. "This was the first time we really put everything together for 40 minutes. This was an exciting game and both teams played well. We really took care of the ball and made our free throws down the stretch tonight."
Three players finished with nine points to pace Davidson - Crayton, Hamilton and Meghan Bryant.
Both teams have the rest of the week off to celebrate the holiday season. Davidson returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 3, when the 'Cats host Georgia Southern. Game time is scheduled for 3:30 pm. Western Carolina will next host Wofford on Tuesday, Dec. 30, at 7 pm.
