Dec. 20, 2006

Final Stats

Greensboro, N.C. - Western Carolina led by as many as 15 points in the second half, but had to survive a feverish rally by the home-standing UNC Greensboro Spartans to secure its second-straight Southern Conference win, 53-52, Wednesday afternoon in Fleming Gymnasium. Sophomore Brooke Johnson hit two free throws with 16 seconds showing on the game clock to put Western back on top to earn the victory.

The win snaps UNC Greensboro's 10-game home winning streak and concludes WCU's 11-game road swing at 7-4. On the season, the Lady Catamounts improve to 7-5 overall, and are 2-0 in league play for the first time since the 2002-03 season.

After leading from the opening tip, Western surrendered the lead for the first time at the 1:55 mark after back-to-back UNCG lay-ups, the second coming off a steal on the in-bounds play. Up one, 52-51, the Spartans had three chances to expand the lead after a WCU turnover but could not increase their lead. Johnson then calmly drained two charity tosses to put the Lady Cats ahead by one, 53-52, and then endured a fever pitch over the final seconds to hold on for the victory.

Sophomore Lauren Powell led a balanced scoring attack for WCU and was the lone Lady Catamount to reach double-figures, finishing with 10 points. Junior Chevon Keith just missed her second-straight double-double scoring nine and boarding 10 rebounds, while Brooke Johnson tallied eight, six of which coming from the free throw line, while pulling down six rebounds and blocking two shots.

Kendra Eaton scored seven for WCU off the bench with junior Ashley Pellom boarded a career-high eight and dished out four assists.

Using tenacious defense in the first half, Western limited the Spartans to 22-percent shooting from the floor and an opponent-low 16 points, leading at intermission, 28-16. After the break, the Lady Catamounts outscored UNCG 7-to-4 over the first four minutes to go up by 15 before the Spartans began their comeback.

With Western up 12, 49-37, with 6:02 to play, UNC Greensboro embarked on an 11-0 run to slice the deficit to one at the 2:56 mark then went ahead one with 1:55 to play setting up the wild finish.

UNCG (6-4, 0-2 SoCon) was led by senior Jasmine Byrd with a game-high 16 points while KaLeah Latham finished with nine and Irene Otamiri and Kemena Brooks each recording eight. Post Brittany Frazier led the Spartans with nine rebounds.

Western Carolina will return home for the first-time in 50 days when it hosts Eastern Michigan in the Ramsey Center on Saturday, Dec. 30. Tip-off for the final non-conference game of the season is set for 4:00 pm.