March 3, 2011

Box Score |   

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Western Carolina women's basketball, the No. 10 seed, (9-21) advanced to the second round of the Southern Conference Tournament with a 48-42 (12-18) win over No. 7 seed Georgia Southern Thursday at McKenzie Arena.

The Catamounts will face No. 2 seed Samford on Friday at 9 a.m. in quarterfinal action.

Senior Emily Clarke led all scorers with 14 points, scoring 12 of her points in the first half. Teammate Kaila'Shea Menendez followed with 11.

Both teams battled from the tip of the game, looking to advance to Friday's second round. Georgia Southern struggled from the field in the first half, but benefitted from 12 trips to the charity stripe. The Eagles were 10-of-12 from the free throw line in the first 20 minutes, accounting for almost half of their 19 first half points.

Western Carolina, on the other hand, shot a toasty 41.7 percent from the field and led by five, at the half, 24-19. The Catamounts only made one trip to the free throw line, going 2-of-2.

Back-to-back buckets by Clarke gave Western Carolina the lead for good in the first half. Clarke hit a field goal with 9:37 left and then drained of one of her two three pointers in the game to give WCU a three point, 14-11 lead.

Western Carolina led by seven twice in the first half. Georgia Southern hit 2-of-4 free throws in the final two minutes to trim the Catamount lead to five at the break.

After hitting just four field goals in the first half, Georgia Southern came out of the locker room firing in the second 20 minutes. Western Carolina's Caitlin Hollifield opened the second half with a field goal to give WCU a seven point lead, 26-19. Georgia Southern answered with seven straight points to tie the game at 26.

The game was a veritable see-saw in scoring after that. Georgia Southern took its first lead, 34-33, of the second half thanks to a lay-up by MiMi DuBose with 10:55 left. Catamount freshman Kristen Lyon answered with a lay-up of her own to give WCU the lead back, 34-35.

In the next five minutes the lead changed three times and the scored was tied twice. Catamount freshman Alex Abraham gave WCU the lead for good when she ripped down a rebound and was fouled. Abraham hit both free throws to hand the Catamounts a 39-38 advantage. Western Carolina would never trail again.

In the final three minutes of the game, Western Carolina was 12-of-14 from the free throw line to give Georgia Southern at bay. Redshirt sophomore Janae' McKinney gave Western Carolina some breathing room, leading by one, when she sunk both of her free throws to give Western Carolina a 41-38 lead.

The Catamounts were monsters on the boards, ripping down 39 rebounds to Georgia Southern's 25 boards. The Eagles only had five offensive rebounds.