March 2, 2005

Final Stats

Chattanooga, Tenn. - Senior forward Jennifer Gardner dominated the first half, while freshman Chevon Keith scored nine of her career-high 13 points in the second half as the sixth-seeded Western Carolina Lady Catamounts rallied past number 11 Wofford, 79-62, Wednesday night in the first round of the 2005 Kyocera Southern Conference Women's Basketball Championship.

A lay-up by Wofford freshman Kelsi Koenig at the 13:10 mark of the second half gave the Terriers a 49-47 lead, its first since the opening minutes of the contest. Just over a minute later, however, Western's Monique Dawson drained a three-pointer to reclaim the advantage for the Lady Catamounts, and WCU would not trail the remainder of the night.

In all, Western (15-13) outscored Wofford 32-13 over the final 12 minutes to cruise into the second round.

"Wofford never quit," said Western first-year head coach Kellie Harper who tied former WCU skipper Judy Pounds for wins in their first season at the helm in Cullowhee. "Coach Farmer had his team ready to play. They fought hard and showed a lot of confidence. I'm proud of our team for fighting and coming out with a win, but we have to play better than this if we're going to come out top tomorrow."

Gardner, a consensus All-Southern Conference selection, was eight-of-12 from the floor and pulled down nine rebounds in addition to her 23 points. Keith's 13 points surpassed her previous career-best set back in the second game of the regular season. She added five boards on the night.

Senior Lori Tanner added 12 points in the win, pulling down seven rebounds to tie a season high and dishing out four assists to tie a career high. Western also got good play off the bench from a trio of underclassmen. Dawson finished with eight points and a pair of steals, with junior Teyawna Hardy and sophomore Erin May each scoring seven apiece.

Senior guard Ki-Ki Glass dished out four assists and swiped a game-high three steals in Wednesday's win over Wofford.

Leading by three, 19-16, midway through the first half, Western outscored Wofford 19-to-10 run to take a 12-point advantage, the largest of the half. But the Terriers fought back, nailing a pair of 3-pointers in the closing minutes to close to within six, 38-32, at the break.

Wofford used an 11-5 run to open the second half to tie the game at 45. Sophomore Erin May pushed Western back ahead by two before four-straight Terrier points, capped by Koenig's lay-up, gave them the lead.

The Lady Catamounts advance to face the third-seeded Furman Lady Paladins in the final game of the third session at Maclellan Gymnasium on Thursday night with a approximate start time of 7:30 pm. Western split with Furman during the regular season, knocking off the Paladins 57-53 back on February 19th in Greenville, S.C.