Dec. 19, 2005

Final Stats

High Point, N.C. - Despite four players in double figures, including a season-high 20 points from senior Teyawna Hardy, Western Carolina faltered on the road, falling to the High Point Panthers, 89-87, Monday night in non-conference action at the Millis Center.

The loss was Western's eighth-consecutive to start the season and its fourth by three points or less this year.

The four Lady Catamounts in double figures were led by Hardy with a season-high 20 points off the bench. The Ellenboro, N.C., shot 6-of-11 from the floor with a 5-of-6 showing from the free throw line, adding nine rebounds, three of which were on the offensive end.

Sophomore guard Chevon Keith added a dozen in the loss, also boarding right at her seasonal average with nine. Her classmate, Monique Dawson, scored 11 including a 6-for-7 showing from the free throw line, with freshman Lauren Powell notching her sixth double-digit scoring output with 10, while Teshymia Tillman, playing in her hometown of High Point, scored nine and dished out a career-best four assists.

Five minutes into the second half, Western cut the High Point advantage to one point, 47-46 on an Amelia Miller lay-up. Yet a 13-3, 10-point spurt by the Panthers pushed the advantage to double-digits at 11, 60-49. The Lady Cats would not go away, however, clawing back into the ball game with a 14-4 run of their own to again close the deficit to one, 64-63. It was as close as Western would get until the closing seconds of the game when Keith drained a 3-pointer with two seconds showing.

The Panthers, who entered the game shooting 66-percent from the free throw line as a team, hit right at their average over the final two minutes to seal the win despite outscored 15-8 over the final two minutes of the game.

High Point (6-3) was led by the double-double performance of senior Katie O'Dell, who scored 21 points and boarded 10 in the win. Junior Candyce Sellars scored 12 of her 15 in the second half, including a pair of treys, while Raven Truslow scored 13 to round out the Panthers' double-figure tallies.

Western Carolina returns to action on Thursday, Dec. 29, at 7:00 pm as it travels to its second SEC foe of the season, visiting the South Carolina Gamecocks in Columbia, S.C.