Feb. 18, 2007

Final Stats

Cullowhee, N.C. - An early six-point deficit was the lone hiccup for Western Carolina on Saturday afternoon as the Lady Catamounts bounced back from its first loss in 37 days to thump the Furman Lady Paladins, 72-48, in Southern Conference action at the Ramsey Center. The win was WCU's sixth-straight over Furman and completed the season sweep for the second-consecutive year.

Western, which improved to 19-8 overall, 13-3 in the SoCon, remains in a two-way tie atop the league with the Chattanooga Lady Mocs, who survived a scare at home against the College of Charleston before winning, 64-60. WCU visits the Cougars on Monday night at the Kresse Arena before concluding regular season play at home next Saturday (Feb. 24) against UNC Greensboro.

Junior guard Monique Dawson led two Lady Cats in double figures on the afternoon with a game-high 15 points, marking her 20th double-digit performance of the season. For the fourth-straight game, Dawson added five assists and finished with a team-best three steals. Sophomore Lauren Powell joined her in double figures on the day, tallying 13 points, nine of which came in the first half. The Asheville, N.C., native finished 5-of-8 from the floor, including 3-of-4 from long range.

Junior Jessika Johnson - who later in the day won second-place in the SoCon Indoor Track & Field Championships High Jump competition - recorded nine points with her classmate Ashley Pellom also scoring nine while dishing out three assists. Sophomore Kendra Eaton nearly posted a double-double with eight points and eight boards and freshman Heather Swayne tied her career-high with seven points and a pair of assists off the bench.

Furman (9-18, 4-12 SoCon) opened the game 5-for-5 from the floor to take its largest lead of the game at six points, 10-4, at the 17:10 mark of the first half. Yet, the Lady Paladins would only manage a total of seven points the remainder of the opening stanza as WCU outscored Furman 31-to-7 to lead at the break, 35-17.

Out of the halftime locker room, four-consecutive points by Dawson pushed the Lady Catamount advantage over 20 points where it would remain until the final three minutes of regulation. WCU used a 9-0 spurt over the first two and a half minutes to build its lead to 27, 44-17, led by as many as 28 midway through the frame en route to the 24-point victory.

Furman, which was limited to 47 points in the first meeting between the two teams earlier this season in Greenville, failed to put a player in double figures on Saturday. Sophomore Katie Johnson led the Lady Paladins with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting, with junior Chrissy Phelps and sophomore Courtney Opie each chipping in eight.

Western, which leads the SoCon in rebounding, held a decisive edge on the boards, out rebounding Furman 52-to-26, including 18 on the offensive end. The Lady Catamounts shot 43.9-percent (25-of-57) from the floor, including 5-of-13 (38.5%) from beyond the 3-point arc, as compared to Furman's 35.1-percent (20-of-57) and just 2-of-15 (13.3%) on 3-pointers. WCU shot 85-percent from the charity stripe, nailing all eight opportunities in the final 20 minutes.

Monday night's game at the College of Charleston will be broadcast by the Catamount Sports Network with Steven Crumpler on the call. The game can be heard live on www.CatamountSports.com with an air time of 6:45 pm, 7:00 pm tip-off.