Jan. 17, 2004
Final Stats
Greensboro, N.C. - Western Carolina shot a season-low 27.6 percent from the field Saturday afternoon as the Catamounts fell to UNC Greensboro, 66-53, in Southern Conference women's basketball action.
The win improved UNCG to 5-11 on the season, 5-4 in conference play, as well as 18-17 all-time against the Catamounts. With the loss, Western Carolina drops to 4-11 overall and 3-5 in the SoCon.
The two teams spent the opening minutes of the contest searching for offense. UNCG broke through with an early 5-3 lead behind five Lindsey Reed points. Western Carolina responded with a 6-0 run to take a 9-5 advantage at the 11:36 mark on a layup from Christy Blackwell. UNCG regained the lead and pushed out to a 27-15 advantage by displaying a dominant post game, highlighted by Kellan Law and Ashley Current. The Catamounts closed the half on a 5-2 spurt, but still trailed the Spartans, 29-20 at halftime.
Amanda Eaton led a solid team scoring effort for the Spartans at the break with six points, while Current and Reed added six and five respectively. As a team, UNCG shot a stellar 59.1% (13-22) in the opening period, while holding the Catamounts to 25.0% (8-32). Jennifer Gardner paced Western Carolina with nine points at halftime.
Western Carolina opened the second half on a 7-2 run capped by a Yoneko Allen 3-pointer to climb to within four, 31-27. After trading baskets, UNCG's Byrd connected on back-to-back long range 3-point attempts to push the advantage back to nine, 39-30. The Catamounts refused to go away, however, and with two free throws from Jennifer Gardner Western Carolina pulled back to within four, 41-37, at the 10:39 mark.
Leading 41-37, UNCG seized control of the contest by going on an 18-10 run, giving them an 11 point lead, 59-47, with 3:34 remaining in the game. The Spartan run was triggered by stifling defense, strong rebounding and hot shooting. UNCG outscored Western Carolina, 7-6 over the remaining minutes to seal the victory.
Joining Byrd in the scoring column were Reed with nine and Stephanie Britt and Amanda Eaton with eight apeice. The Spartans shot 51.1% (24-47) from the floor for the game, while holding the Catamounts to 27.6% (16-58). Tiffany Hamm had 13 points and 13 rebounds for Western Carolina as she entered WCU's top 10 career scoring list, now with 1,179 in her four years with the Catamounts. She needs just five boards to put herself on the school's career rebounding list as well. Jennifer Gardner led the squad with 16 points, adding 11 rebounds.
The Lady Cats stay on the road to face Elon Monday night at 7:00 pm.
