Dec. 19, 2008

Box Score

HARPER AND CLARKE POSTGAME INTERVIEWS ON CATAMOUNT TRACKS PODCAST

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Western Carolina women's basketball rallied back from a 13-point halftime deficit to defeat College of Charleston 80-68 Friday in the Ramsey Center. The Lady Catamounts reach the .500 mark for the first time this season evening their record to 5-5 and also improving to 2-1 in the Southern Conference while the College of Charleston falls to 6-3 and 1-2 in the SoCon.

The Cougars of College of Charleston had Western Carolina on its heels in the first 20 minutes of the game quickly building a 10-point lead, 13-10, in the first five minutes of the contest and held a double digit lead for most of the first half. The Cougars also burnt the Lady Catamounts for six three-pointers and shot 47.1 percent from the field.

Trailing 42-29 at the half, Western Carolina came out in the second half and went on a 7-0 run to cut the College of Charleston lead to six, 42-36, in a two minute span. The Lady Catamounts kept chipping away and took the lead for the first time in the game, 51-50, when senior Lauren Powell drained a three-pointer from the left corner with 13:44 left in the game.

Western Carolina and College of Charleston traded baskets for the next seven minutes but the Lady Catamounts never relinquished the lead. The Cougars did tie the game at 63 with 6:02 remaining but senior Brooke Johnson answered with a lay-up, which would spur a 10-0 run by WCU and give the club its first double digit lead of the game.

The Lady Catamounts built its largest lead of the game, and ironically matched College of Charleston's lead at the break, of 13 with 1:28 off a pair of free throws by Jessica Jackson. Johnson closed out the game when she was fouled by the Cougars with an eighth of a second left on the clock, draining the free throws to end the game.

Though it is cliché, it truly was a tale of two halves for Western Carolina. In the first half, the Lady Catamounts shot an anemic 39.3 percent from the field but in the second half the club was a scorching 53.6 percent. Both teams ended with eight made three-pointers but the telling stat was that the Cougars had six of their treys in the first half and the Lady Catamounts held College of Charleston to just two in the final 20 minutes.

Western Carolina scored 51 points in the second half and held College of Charleston to just 26 points. Also, after being beat on the boards 19-18 in the first half, the Lady Catamounts won the rebounding battle in the end with a 40 to 31 advantage.

Western Carolina had four players score in double figures and was led by junior Emily Clarke who led all scorers with 21 points. She had just seven points in the first half and rallied to score 14 of her points in the second half. She was also 5-of-6 from the free throw line and 2-of-5 from the three-point line.

Johnson made the most of her shooting attempts as she was 4-of-5 from the field, 1-of-1 from the three-point line and 4-of-5 from the charity stripe for 13 points. Jackson scored a career-high 12 points draining a pair of three-pointers and was 6-of-7 from the free throw line. For the second straight game, senior Powell came off the bench to score in double figures with 11 points.

Western Carolina returns to action Sunday to host Georgia Southern. Tip time is set for 4 p.m. in the Ramsey Center.