Feb. 28, 2004
Final Stats
Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina held a 38-36 lead at halftime, but it was not enough to hang on for the win as Appalachian State outscored the Lady Catamounts 36-26 in the second stanza to run away with the 72-64 win in WCU's final regular-season game. With the loss, Western heads to the Southern Conference tournament with an 11-16 overall record and 10-10 scorecard in the league. The Mountaineers improve to 7-20 and 6-14 to end their season.
The Cats led by as many as 11 points in the opening 20 minutes after freshman Erin May scored on a layup at 16:26. With 5:14 left to go in the half, senior Tiffany Hamm sank a jumper to put Western up by 10, but the Mountaineers slowly began to chip away at WCU's lead. The Catamounts' lead was just four points after Danielle Edwards made a layup for ASU at 2:28, but the Cats stretched it back to eight after junior Lori Tanner and Hamm hit back-to-back shots for Western Carolina. With just over a minute to go in the first period, ASU's Lindsay Smith was fouled by May as she was attempting a 3-point shot. Smith made all three freebies and just before the buzzer, Aisha Bryant nailed a trey to mark the halftime score at 38-36 in the Catamounts' favor.
App State's Jessica Jank opened up scoring in the second half on a jumper after a steal by Smith to tie the game. WCU responded with a layin on the other end by junior Ki-Ki Glass. ASU's Kiki Conyers tied things up again with the 2-pointer and the Mountaineers took their first lead of the game at 16:39 on two made free throws by Crystal Barriner. Western regained the lead at 11:01 on a layup by Tanner, but Appalachian's Michelle Conklin hit a shot from downtown just as the buzzer went off on the next possession to give ASU the lead back for good. Tanner brought the Cats within a point on a free throw at 8:20, but that's as close as the team would get. App State went on a 15-8 run to end the game, capped off by a free throw by Conyers.
Prior to tip-off, three seniors were recognized for their outstanding careers at Western Carolina. Tiffany Hamm, Yoneko Allen and Christy Blackwell have all made their mark on Catamount history forever. Hamm led all scorers with 14 points, adding eight rebounds. With her point total, Hamm moves into sixth place ahead of Karen Mason (1995-98) in the WCU record books for career scoring, now with 1,379 all-time points. Junior Jennifer Gardner chipped in 12 points and Allen had 10. Blackwell dished out a team-high seven assists for the second straight game. The Catamounts shot 47.2 percent from the floor, including 46.2 percent from beyond the arc (6-of-13), but only 53.3 percent from the line.
The Mountaineers controlled the boards for the night with the 46-33 advantage and forced 20 WCU turnovers, while committing 14 themselves. Conyers led the squad with 12 points. Bryant and Shante Williams added 11 and 10 points, respectively. Edwards led the field with 16 rebounds, while Smith had a team-high seven assists and three steals. ASU shot just 38.5 percent from the field and only 16.7 percent from long range, but hit 20-of-28 from the charity stripe for 71.4 percent.
The two teams now begin preparations for the SoCon Championship, which begins next week in Charleston, S.C. As the sixth seed, WCU will face Wofford (0-27, 0-20) in the late game Wednesday night (Mar. 3). As the ninth seed, Appalachian will face either Georgia Southern or UNC Greensboro in the first game Wednesday at 2:30 pm.
