Jan. 7, 2006

Final Stats

Davidson, N.C. - Trailing by eight with five minutes to play, the Western Carolina Lady Catamounts managed a 9-2 spurt over a three minute span to pull within a point, 60-59, with less than two minutes remaining, but could neither pull even nor ahead, falling on the road to the Davidson Wildcats, 67-63, Saturday afternoon at the Belk Arena.

The loss was just WCU's second in the last seven meetings with the Wildcats, but marked the second-straight defeat at Davidson.

Western (1-11, 1-2 SoCon) put three players in double figures, led by freshman Lauren Powell with 18 including three, 3-pointers. The Asheville, N.C., native added a career-high eight rebounds. Her front court classmate, April Parker, also had a career day, scoring a career-best 16 points and boarding a career-high 12 for her second-consecutive, double-double. Sophomore Monique Dawson rounded out the double-figure scorers for Western, finishing with 14 in the loss, with Chevon Keith finishing with seven points, seven rebounds, and a pair of blocked shots.

Early in the first half, neither team could find the range as shooting percentages hung in the teens throughout the first 10 minutes of action, thus keeping the score within two points either way. Davidson, however, was the first to break free from the see-saw affair. After witnessing the game's seventh tie, 18-18, the Wildcats scored seven of the next eight points to claim their largest first half lead of six, 25-19. But Western rallied, using a triple by Powell and three points from Dawson to force the eighth tie of the half. The Wildcats would add a pair of free throws to end the half with the two-point advantage, 29-27.

Davidson opened the second stanza with a quick 8-to-3 spurt to transform its two-point lead from intermission into a seven-point cushion before Western could recover, slicing the deficit back to three, 37-34, four minutes into the half. Seemingly matching the Lady Catamounts score-for-score, though, the Wildcats stretched their advantage out to a game-high eight with 13 minutes, and again with five, showing on the clock.

It was after the latter when WCU began its 9-2 run to close to within one, 60-59, on two made free throws by Dawson. On the ensuing possession, the Lady Cats defense got the stop they were looking for as Davidson's Jessica Mitchell missed a runner in the lane and Parker pulled down the rebound. However, a WCU turnover and a Wildcat bucket and a foul under their own basket with two seconds showing on the shot clock pushed the game back out of reach for Western. The `Cats hit five of their final seven free throws to ice the win.

The Lady Catamounts shot a season-high 84-percent from the free throw line (21-of-25), as well as out rebounded the Wildcats, 37-to-36, in the losing effort.

Davidson (7-6, 3-1 SoCon) was paced by 26 points from senior post Janelle Crayton, adding a team-high eight rebounds, three assists, and a pair of steals. Mitchell and Kelly Gassie each added 15 points for the Wildcats, who won their fifth-straight.

Western Carolina returns to action on Monday, Jan. 9 as a part of a hoops doubleheader in Boone, N.C. The Lady Catamounts will battle Appalachian State at 6:00 pm while the Catamount men face the Mountaineers at 9:00 pm in a regionally televised match-up in the Holmes Center.

Both games will be broadcast on the Catamount Sports Network with a 5:45 pm air time for the women's broadcast, and the men's game to follow immediately following. The women's game will be carried by WWCU-FM, Power 90dot5 in Cullowhee and SuperTalk 1350 AM, WZNN in the Asheville area, with the men's broadcast carried on WWCU and 680 AM WRGC in Sylva. Each station offers streaming audio online at www.WWCUFM.com, www.SuperTalk1350.com, and www.wrgc.com.