Feb. 7, 2005

Final Stats

Cullowhee, N.C. - Senior Jennifer Gardner led three Lady Catamounts in double figures with 16 points and 11 rebounds as the Western Carolina Lady Catamounts defeated East Tennessee State, 65-60 Monday night at the Ramsey Activity Center.

Gardner connected on four free throws within the final 30 seconds to preserve Western's first victory over the Lady Bucs in the past four meetings.

In addition to Gardner's seventh double-double of the season, junior Teyawna Hardy added 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting and freshman guard Ashley Pellom poured in 10 for Western Carolina, who improves to 10-12 overall and 6-9 in the Southern Conference. Freshman guard Monique Dawson had her best outing since returning to the lineup, scoring nine points, all of which came in the first half. Her frontcourt classmate, Jessika Johnson, added eight points and three rebounds in the winning effort.

East Tennessee State (8-14, 6-9) was led by senior Tiffani Mayes with 20 points and seven rebounds giving the Sumter, S.C., native a combined 50 points and 20 rebounds in two meetings versus WCU this season. Junior B.J. Banjo added 12 despite struggling 0-for-5 behind the 3-point arc and freshman Michelle DeVault scored 11 for the Lady Bucs.

Western Carolina seized control of a seesaw first half that witnessed nine different ties through the first 15 minutes and neither team being able to build more than a three-point lead. Knotted at 22, Dawson connected on a pair of free throws to push the Lady Cats up two. Then, ETSU's Brooke Wilhoit committed one of her three turnovers on the night, and Western converted it into a Gardner lay-up and a four-point advantage. The Lady Cats were able to grow the lead to a half-high seven on two occasions, including on the strength of a Hardy lay-up just before the break giving Western a 34-27 cushion at the break.

Out of intermission, East Tennessee State put together a 10-0 spurt to erase the halftime deficit and claim a three-point advantage, 37-34, just two minutes into the final stanza. Western regained its composure to halt the drought and pull back ahead by one, 40-39. Back-to-back buckets pushed the Lady Bucs back out in front, but their advantage was short-lived as Hardy again pushed Western back in front, this time for good at 44-43 with 12:44 remaining in regulation.

Western would grow the lead to six on two occasions within the final four minutes of the game, holding the six-point advantage for the final time with 2:50 showing on the game clock. Banjo nailed two charity tosses to shrink the lead to four, and Mayes cut the lead to two just inside of two minutes. However, junior Candace Gibson missed a pair of free throws that would have tied the game and Pellom drained a jumper on the other end to again stretch things out to four. Gardner then connected on four consecutive trips to the free throw line to secure the win for Western.

After being dominated on the boards at Chattanooga, Western responded by out rebounding East Tennessee State 45-34 on the night. The Lady Cats managed 41-percent from the floor and continued to shine from the free throw line, connecting on 16-of-18 attempts for 88.9-percent. Neither team shot well from behind the 3-point arc, combining to go 4-of-27 as Western was 1-of-11 on the night and the Bucs 3-of-16 (18.8%).

Western returns to action this Saturday, February 12 as it travels to UNC Greensboro for a 3:00 pm start. The Lady Catamounts will look to avenge a 14-point loss handed to them by the Spartans back in mid January.