Box Score Feb. 25, 2005
Final Stats
Boone, N.C. -
Following Thursday night's game at the Holmes Center, Western Carolina head coach Kellie Harper was almost speechless. Her Lady Catamounts had just posted 78 points on the scoreboard -- nine points above their seasonal average -- and connected on a season-best 92.6-percent (25-of-27) from the free throw line, statistics that in a normal situation would bode well for the squad.
But on the night when Appalachian State honored its senior class, one honoree had a career night, while her supporting cast combined to shoot over 60-percent from the floor, both spelling doom for the streaking Catamounts.
Appalachian senior Tiffany Smith scored a career-high 31 points, including 21 in the first half, to lead the Mountaineers past Western, 96-78, in the regular season finale for both teams. The loss snapped ASU's seven-game losing skid while also bringing the Lady Catamounts five-game win streak to a close.
Western Carolina (14-13, 10-10 SoCon) was led by junior Teyawna Hardy, who scored a career-high 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including a 3-for-4 showing from behind the 3-point arc. She was also one of five Lady Cats to go perfect from the free throw line. Senior Lori Tanner had her best outing since the calendar changed to February, scoring 14 points which included going perfect from the charity stripe in six attempts. Rounding out the double-digit scorers for WCU was freshman Monique Dawson who chipped in 13.
Senior Jennifer Gardner tallied eight points and four rebounds in limited action against the Apps, but her efforts did pay big dividends with regards to the WCU Record Book. Gardner leapfrogged into ninth on the Western Carolina all-time scoring leader board, surpassing both Roxanne Williams (1988-91) and Lori Lyons (1990-93). She also slid into fourth on the career rebounding list, bumping Marilyn Sheets (1967-70) down to fifth. Gardner will enter the SoCon tournament with 1,252 career points and 841 career boards.
Strengths that had helped Western prevail through the previous five-consecutive victories plagued the team against its arch-rival. Appalachian State out rebounded the Lady Catamounts 39-to-25 and on the defensive end, fast break transition opportunities limited Western's ability to get defensive stops. Also, WCU entered the game limiting teams to a mere 27.8-percent from behind the 3-point arc, but allowed the Mountaineers to net 8-of-14 attempts for an opponent season-high of 57.1-percent.
Joining Smith in double figures for Appalachian State (11-16, 8-12 SoCon) were freshman Whitney Tossie, who scored 14 points and dished out four assists, and Jocelyn Wyatt with 13 points, three steals, and three of ASU's team-record 10 blocked shots. Senior Jessica Jank added three swats in her final game in Boone.
ASU was blistering from the field in the first half, hitting its first six shots overall and shooting a staggering 64.7 percent (22-of-34) in the opening frame. Smith hit two treys in the opening four minutes of the game en route to her 21 points in the first half. Despite the hot start, Western only trailed by six points, 26-20, at the 11:40 mark. From that point on, the Mountaineers embarked on a 30-13 run to close the period, to take a 56-33 lead into the locker at the half, the largest halftime deficit for Western this season.
Things in the second half didn't get any better for the purple and gold as Appalachian State was able to score seemingly at will, stretching the lead to a game-high 31 points on two occasions midway through the second stanza. The Mountaineers seem to put things on cruise control down the stretch. A trio of trifectas by the Cats closed the game to within 18 at the final horn, the closest WCU had been since late in the first half.
Both teams will return to action next week at the 2005 Kyocera Southern Conference Basketball Championships to be held in Chattanooga, Tenn. Appalachian State is already locked into the ninth seed and will face the eighth seed in the tournament opening game at 2:30 pm.
Western Carolina must now wait until a trio of games conclude on Saturday before knowing where it will be placed in the tournament. The Lady Catamounts can still finish as high as sixth and as low as eighth, which means they could play in any combination of the first round games.
