Feb. 1, 2010

Box Score

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - With 5.6 seconds left, and down by three points to College of Charleston (17-6, 11-3 SoCon) on Monday, Western Carolina women's basketball (3-18, 2-10 SoCon) had the ball in the hands of its leading scorer, Emily Clarke. She launched a three-point shot that would have tied the game, at 74, but the shot hit the rim and bounced off as time expired. It was another in a long line of tight losses for the Catamounts, falling 74-71 to the Cougars.

Western Carolina got its last-second chance shot when College of Charleston's Brooke Kotcella attempted to inbound the ball, under the Catamounts' basket, and threw the ball out of bounds. Catamount Head Coach Karen Middleton called time out and ran a play to put the ball in the hands of Clarke, who ended the game with a game-leading 21 points.

The Catamounts were down by nine points, with 1:13 left in the game, and it looked like College of Charleston would cruise to the win. Western Carolina made the game interesting down the stretch when Caitlin Hollifield was fouled and drained both free throws and then Clarke came back to hit a three-pointer, to make the score 65-69 with 49 seconds left.

Down by six, with six seconds left, Hollifield hit a lay-up to cut the lead to four. The Cougars coughed up the ball and Clarke was fouled to put her at the line, hitting 1-of-2 to set up the final play of the game by the Catamounts.

The Catamounts mixed up their line-up again, as redshirt-freshman Janae' McKinney picked up the first start of her career. She responded with a career-high 13 points and six rebounds, all on the offensive end.

Western Carolina built as much as an eight point lead, 28-20, with 3:30 left in the first half. College of Charleston went on a 9-4 ruin the final three minutes of the half to trail the Catamounts by three, 32-29 at the break.

Hollifield and junior Kendra Carroll each had 10 points in the contest and Hollifield led the team with nine rebounds. Senior Kristen Feemster went over 500 rebounds for her career, with six in the game, to gain entrance in the Catamounts' 500 Rebound Club.

The Catamounts shot 44.4 percent from the field but College of Charleston countered with 51.9 percent from the field. Western Carolina did win the rebounding advantage with 34 to the Cougars' 27.

Western Carolina hits the road to face Georgia Southern on Wednesday in the make-up game that had to be rescheduled due to inclement weather. It will be the second meeting between the Catamounts and Eagles in five days. Georgia Southern took the first meeting, on January 30 in Cullowhee, 74-61.

NOTE: Western Carolina women's basketball will not have radio coverage for the game at Georgia Southern. Look for a link later in the week to Georgia Southern's radio network for a chance to catch the game.