Jan. 9, 2012

Box Score |   

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Western Carolina women's basketball's game went down to the wire with Furman on Monday night but the Paladins escaped the Ramsey Center with a 57-54 victory. The Catamounts fall to 6-9 on the season and 1-5 in the Southern Conference while the Paladins improve to 9-6 and 5-1 in the SoCon.

The fans were cheering and the nails were being chewed when redshirt junior Janae' McKinney's lay-up, after picking up a steal, cut the Furman lead to one, 53-52, with 20 seconds left in the game. The Paladins pushed their lead back to five when Kaitlin Murphy drained two free throws making the score 55-52. In the final 20 seconds Furman was 4-for-4 from the free throw line to hold back the surging Catamounts.

Senior guard Kaila'Shea Menendez did add on to her point total, hitting a field goal before the buzzer sounded to end the game. Menendez led all scorers with 16 points and now needs just 33 points to hit 1,000 points in her career.

Western Carolina led from 16:17 left in the first half, off a three-pointer by Menendez, until 12:59 remaining in the second half. Furman's Janice Roberts hit 1-of-2 free throws to break a 34 all tie.

After Furman took a 35-34 lead, the game three more times, with the final score being knotted at 46. Western Carolina would regain the lead one more time thanks to an Alex Abraham jumper, with 5:12 remaining, before Furman retook the lead for good off a Teshia Grisowld three-pointer.

Besides Menendez, Western Carolina has two other players score in double figures. Wakama had 14 points and also dished out five assists and picked up five steals. Abraham added 10. Western had 15 steals in the game garnering 18 points off Furman turnovers.

The game was even almost on every account, but the game came down to the free throw line with Furman going 14-of-19 and Western Carolina 10-of-16. The Catamounts were just edged by the Paladins on the boards 45-43.

Western Carolina heads back on the road on Friday for a high noon game at Davidson. The Contest is part of the Wildcats Education Day for area school children.