Dec. 8, 2004

Final Stats

Spartanburg, S.C. - On the strength of the double-double performance of junior Teyawna Hardy, the Western Carolina Lady Catamounts secured their first Southern Conference victory of the season, knocking off the Wofford Terriers 75-68 Wednesday night at the Benjamin Johnson Arena. It also marks the first conference victory for first-year head coach Kellie Harper.

Hardy came off the bench to score 18 points and pull down 13 rebounds, both career highs, while swiping a team-high two steals en route to the victory. It was the first career double tilt for the third-year forward. The Ellenboro, N.C., native was also a perfect 3-for-3 from the free throw line, a rare bright spot for the Cats who struggled from the charity stripe only connecting on 55-percent of the 29 attempts.

Senior Jennifer Gardner just missed a double-double, grabbing 10 rebounds and scoring eight points. Her low block counterpart, senior Lori Tanner, added nine points and three boards with freshman guard Ashley Pellom equaling Tanner's point production with nine while dishing out three assists. Freshman center Jessika Johnson added eight points for the Lady Catamounts in the winning effort.

In the second half, the two teams kept the game close through the first 10 minutes with the largest lead being a six-point advantage by the Lady Catamounts, 51-45, following a Tanner field goal. Following a Mary Jo Yee trey, Jenny Weurding knocked down a pair of free throws to bring Wofford (2-6, 0-2) within one, 51-50, at 10:14. Western widened the bulge to as many a four over the next few moments only to see the scrappy Terriers hang right with them and even pulling ahead by one, 57-56, with just over six and a half to play.

Yet, Western (5-3, 1-1) made its trendy run, a 17-5 rally capped off by a Pellom free throw to give the Lady Cats their largest lead of the game, 73-62, with 1:18 remaining. Mister provided the final tallies of the contest on a made jump with 19 seconds left, concluding a 17-7 spurt over the final six minutes.

Senior Ki-Ki Glass entered Wednesday afternoon's game needing one assist to move into fifth on WCU's all-time assists list. She got that, and four more, at Wofford, claiming sole possession of slot number five in the record book. The go-ahead dish came at the 8:17 mark of the first half as Glass swung a pass to a wide-open Monique Dawson who drained the downtown bomb giving Glass the helper.

Trailing by four in the waning moments of the first half, the Lady Cats scored the final five points of the half on a Chevon Keith 3-pointer and a Pellom lay-up to lead at the break for the first time this season through the first eight games.

A trio of Terriers recorded double figures, led by the play of K.C. Correll who scored 17 points with seven rebounds and four assists. Team leading scorer Ricaye Harris added 15, with Nakia Mister pouring in 10. Weurding, who entered the game leading the Southern Conference in blocked shots, continued her dominating play in the paint, swatting six shots on the night.

Western Carolina returns to action this Saturday, December 11 as they host Furman in Southern Conference action at 5:00 pm at the Ramsey Activity Center. The game can be heard live on Power 90dot5 locally, or on-line at www.wwcufm.com as Brandon Stephens and Steven Crumpler have the call.