Jan. 14, 2006

Final Stats

Cullowhee, N.C. - Chattanooga sophomore Brooke Hand drained a three-pointer with 4.6 seconds remaining in regulation to cap an 11-point come-back and force overtime. In the extra session, Western Carolina was outscored 12-3 by the Lady Mocs, falling to the league-leader, 77-68, Saturday evening in Southern Conference action.

Hand, who sat on the bench for almost the entire second half, checked into the game with 10.9 seconds to play with UTC down 65-62. Hand's first attempt with eight seconds to go missed, but freshman Alex Anderson grabbed her ninth of a game-high 11 rebounds and put fed the ball back out to Hand who nailed the trey to put the game into overtime after a last second shot at the buzzer for Western fell short.

In overtime, the Lady Mocs struck first on a lay-in from senior Tiffani Roberson and never trailed in the period. Her classmate, Katasha Brown, tallied her sixth trey at 2:36 to build the lead to 70-65. Western would counter and pull back to within two as freshman Kendra Eaton made the first of two free-throws, and then got the put back after missing her second to pull the Lady Catamounts to within two at 2:10.

That was the closest Western Carolina would get as the Lady Mocs shut down the Lady Cats went 0-3 and missed a pair of charity tosses in the final 1:56 of overtime and Chattanooga made 7-of-8 free throws to record the nine-point win, its 11th-straight victory.

Western (2-12, 2-3 SoCon) put three players in double-figures, led by the fourth-consecutive, double-figure outing by sophomore Monique Dawson. The Charlotte, N.C. native finished with a team-high 13 points and a pair of steals. Freshmen Lauren Powell and Teshymia Tillman each chipped in 11 points apiece, with Powell adding five rebounds and Tillman dishing out a pair of assists and swiping two steals.

Sophomore guard Ashley Pellom scored nine in the loss and dished out three assists, while her classmate Chevon Keith and freshman April Parker each grabbed eight rebounds apiece. Keith also dished out three assists, recorded three steals, and blocked a pair of shots.

Western trailed 27-26 at the half and the two teams traded leads through the first 9:12 of the second half before the Lady Catamounts got a handle on the ball and pulled away with a 12-1 run over the next 5:06 to take an 11-point, 58-47 lead. UTC chipped away and outscored the Catamounts 18-7 over the last 5:15, including four 3-pointers, to send it into overtime on Hand's long range bomb.

Four Lady Mocs (12-3, 6-0 SoCon) scored in double digits led by Brown who had a game-high 22 points, including six 3-pointers to tie her career-high. Roberson and Nicole Mattison each tossed in 12 points each and Laura Hall had 11. Anderson scored six points and had a game-best 11 rebounds.

Western will play the second game of its four-game home stand on Monday night, hosting Georgia Southern at 7:00 pm in the Ramsey Center. The Eagles are coming off a 71-52 loss at Davidson on Saturday afternoon. The game will be carried live by the Catamount Sports Network on SuperTalk 1350 AM or on the station's streaming on-line audio at www.SuperTalk1350.com.