Feb. 6, 2010

Box Score

GREENVILLE, S.C. - Western Carolina women's basketball picked up its first road win of the season with a 69-39 win over Furman Saturday at Timmons Arena. The Catamounts improve to 4-19 and 3-11 in the Southern Conference while the Paladins fall to 6-18 and 4-11 in the SoCon.

The Catamounts held Furman to 39 points, the lowest scoring output of the season for a Western Carolina opponent. The Paladins' 28 percent from the field was also a season-low for a Catamount foe.

Seniors Heather Swayne and Kristen Feemster came off the bench to spark the Catamounts in the contest. The duo was part of a 40 point effort from the Western Carolina bench.

Swayne led all scorers with a season-high 15 points and was 3-for-3 from behind the three point arch. Feemster recorded her first double double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Furman scored the first field goal of the game, and then took a 4-3 lead off a field goal by Lakyn Ledford. With 16:13 on the clock, Western Carolina took over with Feemster's first field goal of the game gave the Catamounts a 5-4 advantage. Western Carolina never trailed in the contest again.

Western Carolina proceeded to go on a 16-7 run to build a 10-point advantage, 21-11, with 9:05 left, capped off by a three-pointer by Swayne. Furman hit just two field goals in the final nine plus minutes of the first half with their last bucket coming with 5:26 left off a jumper by Kendra Berry. The Catamounts used Furman's scoring woes to build a 30-17 advantage at the half.

Furman hit just seven field goals in the first half and equaled that total in the second half. In the first five minutes of the second half, the Catamounts held the Paladins to just one field goal, a jumper by Ledford.

Back-to-back lay-ups by Emily Clarke and a trey by Swayne pushed the Catamount lead to 20 points. A pair of free throws by Feemster allowed Western Carolina to push its lead to 22 points with 15:07 remaining.

After Furman's Ayanna Randolph hit a field goal, at the 14:53 mark, Western Carolina kept Furman from scoring a bucket for five minutes before Berry hit a jumper with 10:26 left to make the score 46-22. In the final 10 minutes Western Carolina outscored Furman 23-17 for the 30 points win.

The 30 point margin of victory was the largest of the season for Western Carolina. The Catamounts shot 52 percent from the field, a season high for the club. The club also got 26 points in the paint and 14 points off the 13 Furman turnovers.

A replay of the game will be shown on Asheville's My 40 at 10 p.m. and again at 4 p.m. on CSS.

Western Carolina continues its four-game road swing at Appalachian State on Monday. Tip-time is set for 7 p.m.