Feb. 15, 2005

Final Stats

Elon, N.C. - Junior Teyawna Hardy scored a career-high 19 points, including nine from behind the 3-point arc to lead the Lady Catamounts past the Elon Phoenix, 79-70, Monday night at Alumni Gym.

Western Carolina improves to 12-12 overall, and picked up its eighth win in the Southern Conference for head coach Kellie Harper, marking the most conference wins by a first-year head coach at WCU.

"This was a big win for our team. We had several players step up and have big nights, but more importantly, we showed poise as a team to hold off Elon's surge down the stretch," said Harper. "Teyawna (Hardy) and Chevon (Keith) hit several crucial shots when we needed and Jennifer Gardner was a force on the glass yet again helping us secure this win."

Hardy connected on 8-of-12 from the floor, including 3-of-4 from behind the 3-point arc on the night helping Western shoot 50-percent from downtown (7-of-14). The Ellenboro, N.C., native also tied a career-high swiping four steals. She was joined in double figure scoring by senior Jennifer Gardner who tallied her 30th career double-double with 16 points and 15 boards, five of which came on the offensive end.

Freshman Chevon Keith also tied a career-high, reaching 11 points for the second-consecutive game and third time this year. Her front court classmate Jessika Johnson added eight for the Lady Cats off the bench.

Western, which never trailed versus the Phoenix, broke open the second tie of the first half with a 15-2 run over six and a half minutes to take its largest lead of the game of 13, 23-10. The two squads traded buckets back and forth with WCU holding its 13-point lead on four separate occasions, the last occurring seven minutes before the break.

Down by 12, Elon mounted a 10-2 spurt to pull to within four with two minutes remaining in the half, but that is as close as the Phoenix could close, trailing by five, 38-33, at intermission.

Out of the break, the Lady Catamounts missed four of their first five shots which allowed the Phoenix to cut the deficit to one, 41-40, a mere two and a half minutes into the second. However, Hardy took over on the next three possessions, dishing an assist to Johnson for a lay-up to push the lead back to three. She then made a steal on the ensuing possession and converted a lay-up of her own for a five-point advantage, and capped off the spurt with a long-range bomb to balloon the lead back to eight, 48-40.

The Lady Cats grew their advantage to as many as nine in the second half, but the Phoenix kept Western in check continuing to battle back every time WCU tried to pull away. Elon closed to within two with five and a half left in regulation, but back-to-back free throws by Gardner gave the Catamounts back its four-point cushion. Gardner would add five-consecutive points to put the game out of reach as the Phoenix were reduced to fouling over the final minutes of the game.

Elon (4-20, 3-14 SoCon) had three players finish in double figures led by senior Brianne Gray with 16 points and a pair of blocked shots. Freshman Shashonna Moore added 14, 12 of which came in the first half, and Tierra Brumbrey had 13 points and seven assists in the loss.

Western again won the battle of the boards, outrebounding Elon 44-35, which included 15 offensive boards for the Lady Cats.

Western Carolina returns to action this Saturday, February 19 as it visits Furman for a 300 pm tip-off at Timmons Arena. The Lady Catamounts will look to avenge a 10-point loss in which they suffered earlier this season in Cullowhee.