March 2, 2007

Final Stats |  Photos from Semifinals vs #5 Georgia Southern 

North Charleston, S.C. - Junior Ashley Pellom scored a career-high 21 points off the bench to help top-seeded Western Carolina shake off a sluggish first half as the Lady Catamounts outscored No. 5 Georgia Southern 42-to-27 in the final 20 minutes to advance to the 2007 Southern Conference Championship game with a 73-59 win over the Lady Eagles in semifinal action at the North Charleston Coliseum.

With its school-record 23rd victory of the season, the Lady Catamounts will play for the conference tournament title for the third time in the past four years, meeting the No. 2 Chattanooga Lady Mocs who were 80-68 winners over third-seeded Davidson in the second semifinal match. The last time Western was in the finals, it won a thrilling 97-95 double overtime decision against the same Eagles in the 2005 tournament.

"It was not a pretty game, but I credit Georgia Southern for that. I am proud of our kids because they dug down and found something extra to win the basketball game," said unanimous SoCon Coach of the Year, WCU's Kellie Harper. "We gave up too many shots, but that is how GSU plays. Their toughness on the boards is unmatched."

On her match-up in the SoCon finals, Harper said, "We have a rough game tomorrow regardless of who we play. We need to get prepared the best we can and hopefully come out ready to play."

Western (23-8) put three players in double figures led by Pellom's 21 on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor and nine free throws. Sophomore Brooke Johnson scored 10 of her 16 points from the charity stripe, just missing a double-double with nine rebounds. Rounding out WCU's double-digit scorers was junior Jessika Johnson with 11.

Like Brooke Johnson, junior Chevon Keith just missed a double-double, finishing with nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds, 10 of which came on the defensive end.

Despite only shooting 29.3 percent from the field in the first half, the Lady Eagles led by as many as nine points off a 5-of-9 effort from the 3-point line. The Lady Catamounts, while shooting 45 percent from the field, struggled from beyond the arc, missing on all six attempts in the opening 20 minutes.

Western rallied from down nine to take its first lead of the game, 31-29, off two free throws by Brooke Johnson with 33 seconds showing on the clock before intermission. However, Georgia Southern responded with a trey by junior Tiffany Brown at the four second mark, to go into the locker room leading 32-31.

The Lady Catamounts' first 3-pointer of the game came at 17:58 in the second half and cut the GSU lead to one at 39-38 out of the halftime locker room. Lynsie Lamitie's basket sparked a 10-2 run that let Western Carolina take a seven-point 48-41 lead with 13:55 to go.

WCU extended its lead to double-digits with their shooting percentage over 50 percent much of the final 20 minutes. Three-point shooting by the Lady Eagles cooled off as they connected on only 2-of-12 in the second half, ending the game at 7-for-21 effort from beyond the arc.

Georgia Southern cut the Catamount lead to four, 58-54 with 7:34 remaining in the game, but Western responded by outscoring the Lady Eagles 15-to-5 the rest of the game to take the 14-point, 73-59 win.

All told, Western Carolina's bench combined for 42 of the Catamounts' 73 points with GSU's starters scoring 55 of its 59 as the bench added just four points for the Lady Eagles. After being out rebounded by six, 26-20, in the first half, WCU commanded the boards in the second stanza, out rebounding GSU 28-18 for a final tally of 48-to-44.

Georgia Southern (13-18) was led by Tiffany Brown with 18 points, nine in each half, with Chequilla Jessie following with her 12 on the day. Brown also paced the team in rebounds with eight, just two shy of her career-high.

Western Carolina shot 48.3 percent from the field in the second half to end the game with 46.9. Georgia Southern finished with 29.9 percent. Western Carolina was 26-for-38 from the free-throw line, the 38 attempts a season high. Georgia Southern was six-for-11. The Lady Catamounts out-rebounded the Lady Eagles 48-44 and had one more turnover, 12-11.

Saturday's title game will be televised by Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast (CSS) at 2:00 pm (check local listings for availability). Fans can also follow all of the action with the Catamount Sports Network beginning with the pre-game show at 1:30 pm, with the game set to officially tip at 2:06 pm. The game can be heard on WWCU-FM, Power 90dot5 in Cullowhee or online at www.CatamountSports.com. Also, live stats and additional audio/video links are available online at www.SoConSports.com.