Nov. 30, 2006

Final Stats

Asheville, N.C. - Western Carolina junior Ashley Pellom scored a career-high 20 points off the bench and her classmate Monique Dawson made 13-of-15 from the free throw line, including four inside the final 20 seconds, as the Lady Catamounts held on for the 81-78 victory over mountain-rival UNC Asheville Wednesday night in front of 741 in the Justice Center.

The win, which snapped WCU's three-game losing skid to the Bulldogs, was the third-in-a-row for Western this season and pushed the Lady Catamounts above .500 at 4-3. It also gave Western Carolina its first lead, 3-2, in the head-to-head Parkway Series competition. UNCA dropped its third-straight to fall to 2-4 on the year.

The game endured 17 ties and 19 lead changes with neither squad managing more than a six-point lead. WCU matched its largest advantage inside the final minute of the game as Pellom sank a pair of free throws to push the Lady Cats ahead 76-70. However, UNCA would not go away as Katie Baldwin connected on her second of two 3-pointers on the night to pull the `Dogs within three, 76-73 with 28 seconds to play. After Western's Lauren Powell hit one of two charity tosses for a four-point lead, UNCA's Brittany Hendley shook free and buried another trey to close the deficit to one, 77-76, with 22 seconds remaining. Yet, Dawson connected on four-in-a-row from the line to propel WCU to the win.

For the second-straight game, Pellom led four Lady Catamounts in double figures, connecting on 7-of-12 from the field and a was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. The Wilmington, N.C., native also dished out four assists and pulled down four rebounds. Despite struggling from the floor (3-of-12), Dawson was nearly perfect from the charity stripe, connecting on a career-high 13 en route to 19 points. Powell chipped in 14 points in front of her hometown crowd, while junior Chevon Keith just missed her first double-double of the season finishing with 11 points, a team-high nine rebounds, and dishing out a career-best seven assists.

Midway through the first half, WCU opened up the see-saw affair with five-unanswered points to take a six-point, 31-26 lead at the 9:53 mark. Then, over the next three minutes, neither team could manage to score, combining for six turnovers and eight missed shots. The Bulldogs countered with a 16-to-4 run to erase the six-point deficit and build a six-point lead of their own with two and a half remaining before intermission. Although Pellom hit a runner in the lane at the buzzer, UNCA led at the half by one, 41-40.

Both teams traded baskets throughout the majority of the second half before Western pulled ahead by its largest margin of the second half at six inside the game's final 60 seconds. UNC Asheville was led by junior guard Ashton Barton who tied a career-high with 25 points. Hendley added a career-high 21 points, while Amanda Elder finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. Hendley had a season-high seven assists.

Western Carolina shot 52-percent from the field in the first half en route to season-high 48-percent for the game, while Asheville hit 27-of-63 shots, including a season-high 10 3-pointers for 42.9-percent .

Western Carolina returns to action this Saturday and Sunday in tournament play at the Courtyard Classic in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Lady Catamounts will face Eastern Kentucky on Saturday at 1:00 pm and Saint Joseph's on Sunday also at 1:00 pm. Both games can be heard on www.CatamountSports.com, with Sunday's contest also broadcast on WWCU-FM, Power 90dot5 and www.WWCUFM.com.