March 5, 2004
Final Stats
North Charleston, S.C. - Cinderella eluded midnight for at least another day as sixth-seeded Western Carolina stunned second-seeded Furman 75-66 Friday afternoon in semi-final action of the 2004 Southern Conference Women's Basketball Championship at North Charleston Coliseum.
The Catamounts (14-16), who were making their fourth semi-final appearance and first in 12 years, advance to the championship game for the first time to face three-time defending champion and top-seeded Chattanooga (27-2), a 67-37 winner over fifth-seeded Elon earlier in the day, at 5:00 pm Saturday in a Comcast Sports Southeast/SoCon TV-broadcasted event.
The defeat of Furman (18-11) follows Western Carolina's 66-58 upset of third-seeded Davidson in second-round action on Friday night, marking the Catamounts' second surprise victory in less than 24 hours.
Western Carolina claimed its largest lead at 54-39 on a bucket by Tiffany Hamm with 15:20 remaining in the contest. The Lady Paladins refused to go away and later used a 12-3 run to cut a 64-50 deficit to 67-62 on a basket by Jen Nadalin with 3:08 left on the clock.
A 1-for-2 free throw line appearance by Christy Blackwell and a layup by Erin May ended the Furman spurt and extended the Catamounts' advantage to 70-62 with 2:40 to play. The Lady Paladins never inched closer than six points the rest of the way.
Western Carolina was keyed by Hamm (20 points on 9-for-14 shooting), Jennifer Gardner (20 points, career-high 15 rebounds), Yoneko Allen (16 points, career-high-tying five treys) and Blackwell (six assists). Nadalin (15 points), Lauren Few (13 points) and Tommi Paris (11 points) all scored in double figures for Furman.
The Catamounts out-shot the Lady Paladins 52.1 percent (25 of 48) to 44.4 percent (28 of 63) from the field for the game. Each team hauled in 34 rebounds and Furman committed 15 rebounds to 16 miscues for Western Carolina.
