Dec. 11, 2010

Box Score

Middleton Post-Game Comments (AUDIO)

ATLANTA, Ga. Western Carolina women's basketball (2-6) picked up its second road win of the season with a 51-37 win at Georgia State (3-4) Saturday in the GSU Sports Arena.

Junior guard Kaila'Shea Menendez led all scorers with 12 points, scoring six of her points from the free throw line. Menendez was 6-of-6 from the charity stripe in the second half, to combat the Catamounts' 23.8 percent shooting from the floor in the final 20 minutes.

Emily Clarke and Diamond Hunnicutt also scored in double figures for Western Carolina with 11 points a piece. Junior forward Caitlin Hollifield ripped down 10 rebounds for WCU and redshirt sophomore Janae' McKinney swipped a career-high five steals.

Leading by nine at the half, 27-16, Western Carolina went almost six minutes in the second half before scoring a bucket. Freshman guard Rena Wakama ended the streak when she drained a three-pointer with 14:16 left in the game.

Overall, the Catamounts hit just five field goals in the second half. However, WCU benefited from its trips to the free throw line, keeping Georgia State at bay, hitting 12-of-14 in the second half and 17-of-22 overall.

The Catamounts relied on their defense as their shooting grew cold in the second half. Georgia State matched Western Carolina in buckets with five as well, but the Catamounts relied on a nine point lead the team amassed at half time to cool the heels of the Panthers.

In the first half, Western Carolina was spurred by Clarke who hit three 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes. Her three-pointer at the 14:14 mark gave Western Carolina the lead after the game was tied at six. Clarke now moves to fourth place for three-pointers in a career in the Catamount record books with 123.

Georgia State opened the game with two field goals for an early 4-0 lead. Western Carolina roared back with a 6-0 run to take the lead. The Panthers tied the game at six off a lay-up by Kendra Long.

Clarke's three-pointer spurred an 11-0 run for the Catamounts and built a 17-8 lead for WCU. Long ended the scoring drought for Georgia State hitting a field goal with 7:05 left, it was one of just three field goals the Panthers would hit the rest of the half.

Western Carolina held Georgia State, but couldn't seem to build a huge lead over Georgia State. In the final seven minutes of the half, the Catamounts were 4-of-6 from the free throw line and hit just two field goals. The final field goal of the half, for Western Carolina, was a three-pointer by Clarke.

For the game, Western Carolina shot 34.1 percent from the field and held Georgia State to 21.1 percent. The Catamounts won the rebounding advantage 42-31, with 32 of the boards on the defensive end. Western Carolina's 15 steals was a season-high.

Western Carolina will take a week off for finals before opening a two-game Southern Conference road swing Saturday, Dec. 18, at Elon. Tip time is set for 2 p.m.