Jan. 19, 2008

Box Score

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Western Carolina women's basketball (13-5, 5-1 SoCon) won its fifth straight game and third consecutive Southern Conference road game with a 76-55 victory over Wofford (9-8, 2-4 SoCon) Saturday in Benjamin Johnson Arena.

The Terriers battled the Lady Catamounts point for point in the first half and both teams went into the locker room with the score tied at 28. Western Carolina was loose with the basketball in the first half losing the handle on the ball 13 times allowing Wofford to get 14 points off turnovers. Senior guard Monique Dawson was the strongest offensive threat for WCU in the first 20 minutes scoring 11 points and hitting two three pointers.

Western Carolina exploded offensively in the second half and had just five turnovers in the second half. After scoring 28 points and shooting 36.7 percent in the first half, the Lady Catamounts scored 48 points in the second half and shot 52.8 percent from the field. Wofford was held to just 27 points in the second half and shot 36.7 percent.

Wofford took its largest lead of the game, 34-30, with 18:33 left in the second half, but Western Carolina got buckets from Jessika Johnson and Lauren Powell to tie the game at 34. Overall the Lady Catamounts went on a 20-7 run in the first eight minutes of the game to build a 48-35 lead.

A pair of jumpers and a three-point play by Wofford's Liz Miller shaved Western Carolina's lead back down to seven points with eight minutes left in the game but a 14-2 run by the Lady Catamounts pushed the lead up to 20 points with three minutes left in the game and ended any Wofford threat.

Dawson led the Lady Cats with 17 points and also had two assists and one steal. Powell added 16 points, the fourth time in five games she has scored in double figures.

For the third straight game, all 10 Western Carolina players scored. With Georgia Southern's victory over College of Charleson the Lady Catamounts are a half a game behind the Eagles for second place.

Western Carolina returns to action on Monday traveling to Greenville, S.C. to take on Furman. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.