Box Score

Western Caro. WCU 5-25,2-12 SoCon

Samford SU 16-14,10-4 SoCon

Western Caro. WCU

5-25,2-12 SoCon

Final

Mar. 05, 2020

Samford SU

16-14,10-4 SoCon

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Western Caro. WCU	19	4	12	27	62
Samford SU	23	19	14	21	77

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 3/5/2020 4:38:00 PM | Denise Gideon, Director of Media Relations

Catamounts Drop Opening Round of SoCon Tourney Thursday

Smalls leads all scorers with 23

The Basics
Score: Samford 77, Western Carolina 62
Records: Western Carolina 5-25, Samford 16-14
Location: Harrah's Cherokee Center – Asheville, Asheville, N.C.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Three Catamounts scored in double figures as No. 8 seeded Western Carolina women's basketball fell to No. 1 seed Samford 77-62 Thursday in the quarterfinals of the 2020 Ingles Southern Conference Tournament presented by General Shale at the Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville, N.C.

The loss to the Bulldogs ends the 2019-20 season for the Catamounts and first-year head coach Kiley Hill.

Turning Point:
Western Carolina battled in the first quarter aided by Jewel Smalls' three-pointer at the buzzer to trail Samford 23-19. Samford outscored the Catamounts19-4 in the second quarter and went on a 12-0 run and a 17-2 run over the final 8:24 of the quarter. The Bulldog run in the second was a mountain the Catamounts couldn't climb over to the other side on.

Individual Leaders

Sophomore Smalls scored 10 points in the first half and ended the game with game-leading 23. She also ripped down six rebounds.
Redshirt junior Lauren LaPlant added 14 points for the Catamounts.
Freshman Diarra Smith scored a career-high 15 points scoring 11 of her 15 points in the fourth quarter.
Samford's Natalie Armstrong led four Bulldog double-figure scorers with 18 points.

Inside the Box Score

Western Carolina suffered through 20 turnovers in the game equating to 23 Bulldog points.
In the 19-4 run in the second quarter, the Catamounts had six points turning into seven Samford points.
Western Carolina shot a scorching 54.5 percent from the field and held the Bulldogs to 49.1 percent.
Though the Catamounts had a good shooting day WCU couldn't overcome the 11 three-pointers by the Bulldogs and Samford's 14-of-17 day from the free-throw line.
The Catamounts ended the game with nine three-pointers – five of those treys from Smalls.
Samford just edged the Catamounts in rebounding 24 to 22.
Looking reflectively at the game if the second quarter was taken out of the equation, Western Carolina would be tied at 58. The Catamounts closed out the game outscoring the Bulldogs 27-21 in the fourth quarter.

News & Notes

LaPlant opened the game draining a three-pointer extending her streak to 30-straight games hitting at least one three-pointer. She can now carry that streak into the 2020-21 season.
The 2019-20 Catamounts end the season with 215 three-pointers and the single-season Western Carolina record for most three-pointers.
LaPlant cements her single-season record for most three-pointers in a season with 80.
Western Carolina ends the season with 408 assists good for third place in the WCU record books.
Smalls concludes the season with 286 rebounds on the season moving into fourth place in the WCU record books for most rebounds in a year. It marks the most rebounds in a season for a Catamount since the 2007-08 season.
Western Carolina's 62 points against Samford is the most points scored by a Catamount team in the tournament in six years when the 2013-14 squad scored 67 in the loss to Davidson in the semi-finals of the 2014 SoCon Championship.
Smalls' 23 points are the fifth time this season she has scored 20 or more points in a game and the seventh time in her career.