Dec. 1, 2004

Final Stats

Cullowhee, N.C. - Trailing by 16 points two minutes into the second half, the Western Carolina Lady Catamounts embarked on a 34-6 run over the next 10 minutes of play to take a 12-point advantage in which they would never relinquish en route to a 95-85 victory over the High Point Panthers Wednesday night in nonconference action.

Four Lady Catamounts scored in double figures as Western (4-1) notched its fourth-straight win on the year, tallying the most points for a WCU squad since the 2001-02 season when the Cats went for 107 versus Davidson. Freshman Monique Dawson, seeing her first action of the season, led the team with 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting. She marks the eleventh different Lady Cat to record double figures thus far this season.

Dawson was followed by senior Lori Tanner with 16 points and freshman center Jessika Johnson with 15 points, seven rebounds. Freshman point-guard Ashley Pellom rounded out the quadruple leading scorers adding 10 points and four assists in the winning effort.

"Once again, I felt like our intensity wasn't there in the first half," said head coach Kellie Harper who picked up career victory number four on Wednesday. "At halftime, I told the team that I felt we were scoring enough to win, but we had to pick it up on the defensive end with some stops to have a chance win. In the second half, we finally executed our game plan by attacking their defense instead of allowing their pressure defense to attack us. That led to some easy baskets and allowed us to get opportunities to get to the free throw line."

High Point (2-2) took control early, leading from the opening tip until midway through the second half despite one early tie at two-apiece. The Panthers threatened to run away and hide, building 12-point cushions four occasions and taking a 14-point lead just before the half while shooting just under 50-percent from the floor versus WCU's 33 percent. The Panthers also took care of the basketball only coughing it up four times to the Lady Catamounts 10 turnovers in the first half

Yet, as Western has done in each of the past four games, adjustments on the defensive end in the second half proved to be the difference maker. After trading baskets out of recess, the Panthers extended their 12-point halftime advantage to a game-high 16 points at the 18:03 mark of the second stanza. That's when increased defensive pressure by Western, coupled with cold shooting by High Point sparked the WCU 28-point rally. Junior Teyawna Hardy, who finished with nine points on the night, started the rally with a steal and a lay-up to cut the lead to 14 at 60-46.

Amidst Western's run, the Panthers where held to 3-of-13 shooting (18.8 percent) and turned the ball over 10 times. Also, High Point went 0-for-2 from the charity stripe. Conversely, Western Carolina connected on 12-of-23 attempts during the surge, including a pair of 3-pointers, nailed 8-of-11 from the free throw line, and only committed a pair of turnovers while swiping six steals to pull ahead.

Freshman guard Leah Barrier helped spur the second half run by scoring five of her seven points and dishing out three of her four assists during the spurt.

"Our freshmen added intensity in the form of ball pressure, creating turnovers and really took High Point out of its comfort zone on offense," added Harper.

High Point was paced by reigning Big South Player of the Week, Katie O'Dell with a game-high 27 points to lead three Panthers in double figures. O'Dell added a team-high nine rebounds in the losing effort. HPU's leading scorer entering the game, senior guard Charlena Martin, added to her seasonal totals with 24 points and six assists, while sophomore Candyce Sellars dumped in 14 points and six boards for the Panthers.

High Point continues its voyage through the Southern Conference, traveling to Chattanooga on Monday, December 6 for a nonconference tilt with the Mocs. The Lady Catamounts return to action this Saturday in the doubleheader with the men's squad versus mountain-rival, UNC Asheville in the fifth-annual Mountain Hoops Classic. Tipoff for the women's game is slated for 2:00 pm, with the men to immediately follow at the Asheville Civic Center. Advance tickets for the general admission seating event are available by calling the Asheville Civic Center Box Office at 828-251-5505, or are available on the day of the game. Ticket prices are $6 for adults, $4 for youth, with WCU and UNCA students admitted free with their student ID.