Feb. 18, 2006

Final Stats

Greenville, S.C. - Sophomore Monique Dawson led a balanced Western Carolina scoring attack on Saturday afternoon as the Lady Catamounts won their second-consecutive game, 63-49, over the Furman Lady Paladins at the Timmons Arena. The win marked Western's first back-to-back victories of the season and also completed the seasonal sweep of Furman. It also moved WCU into a two-way tie for fifth place in the Southern Conference, which is the final transfer position to move out of playing on the first day (Thursday) of the SoCon Women's Basketball Championships, with two games to play.

In addition to Western (7-18, 7-9 SoCon) earning the win, freshman Lauren Powell etched her name into the WCU record books for 3-pointers made in a career, currently ranking 10th with 59 made treys. Held scoreless and 0-for-2 from 3-point range in the first half, Powell hit the tying 3-pointer at the 17:22 mark of the second half and moved into sole possession of 10th at the 11:47 mark with a long range bomb. She, along with classmate Teshymia Tillman and sophomore Jessika Johnson each finished with eight points, with Johnson securing six boards in the win.

Led by freshman April Parker with eight boards, the Lady Catamounts out rebounded Furman, 48-to-29, including an 18-to-6 edge on the offensive glass. WCU's 18 offensive boards led to 14 second chance points. Sophomore Chevon Keith pulled down six boards, including four on the offensive end to accompany her six points, while freshman guard Amelia Miller equaled Keith's point production with half a dozen. Sophomore Ashley Pellom dished out a game-high five assists and swiped a team-best pair of steals.

In a slow-starting affair, Western took a four-point lead twice through the game's first four minutes, leading 6-2 after Pellom made a lay-up at the 16:11 mark. Furman countered, though, draining back-to-back 3-pointers to break the game's first tie, doubling up WCU, 12-6. After the Lady Catamounts managed to pull back even on six unanswered points, Furman's long-range game pushed the Lady Paladins back ahead three, 15-12.

Things swayed back-and-forth until sophomore Kendra Eaton nailed a jumper for two of her four points to put Western ahead for good with six and a half minutes remaining in the first half. Her bucket ignited a 9-0 Lady Cat run which gave WCU the eight-point, 27-19 lead, which stood at five, 29-24, at intermission.

Furman (9-17, 5-11 SoCon) scored first to open the second half, whittling the deficit to three, 29-26, but Tillman answered on the other end, draining just her third 3-pointer of the season to spark a 7-2 spurt and Western's largest lead to that point of 11, 39-28. All told, between the two halves, Western outscored Furman 19-9 to earn the advantage. The Lady Paladins would not go away, though, slicing the Lady Catamount lead to two, 43-41, with a 13-to-4 run. Directly, however, Powell drained her second trey of the afternoon to push the lead back to five and it would not dip below four points the remainder of the ball game. Western made just enough free throws down the stretch and managed to balloon the lead to as many as 14 on a Johnson wide-open lay-up inside the final minute to provide the final tally, 63-49.

Furman put two players in double figures, led by 14 from sophomore Chrissy Phelps and 10 by freshman Melissa Liebschwager. Senior Tommi Paris, who averaged a team-high 10.6 points per game entering the contest, was limited to seven points, four of which came from a perfect showing from the free throw line. Junior Melynda Gant and senior Megan Scott led the Lady Paladins with seven rebounds apiece.

Western returns home on Monday night to host the College of Charleston at 7:00 pm in the Ramsey Center. WCU and CofC are currently tied for fifth with identical 7-9 records in league play. Prior to the game, the WCU Athletics Department will honor its lone women's basketball senior, Ellenboro, N.C.-native, Teyawna Hardy for Senior Night. The game will be broadcast by the Catamount Sports Network and carried locally in Cullowhee on WWCU-FM, Power 90dot5 (www.WWCUFM.com) or in the Asheville area on 1350 AM WZGM (www.fxsports1350.com).