BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Western Carolina women's basketball wrapped up a busy week on the road on Saturday dropping a 70-52 decision at the hands of Campbell at Gore Arena in Buies Creek. Zanoria Cruz led the Catamounts with 13 points in the loss.
"I believe the long week on the road caught up with us in the first quarter this afternoon," commented head coach Kiley Hill. "We showed some resiliency over the remaining three quarters playing even. It took us too long to try and recover."
Cruz did most of her work at the foul line making 7-of-10 at the charity stripe. Lonasia Brewer continued her strong showing from Thursday adding 11 points making 5-of-8 field goals. Tyja Beans added 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Jada Burton added a team-high four assists.
Audrey Fuller led the way for Campbell with 14 points and added four rebounds as Christabel Ezumah totaled 10 points and a game-high 14 rebounds for the hosts. Brittany Staves tallied 13 points making three triples. Ezumah led the Camels with four assists.
"I felt like we got dominated on the offensive boards, which were game changers, and which led to long closeouts and room along with rhythm on three-pointers," added Hill.
Both teams connected on an early 3-pointer before the Camels scored the next 20 points to gain a 23-3 lead after the opening 10 minutes on Saturday afternoon.
The Catamounts chipped away at the Campbell (3-1) lead with an early burst, scoring six of the opening 10 points to make it 27-9. The hosts stretched the lead back out with an 8-4 spurt to make it 35-13 with 3:14 to play before the break. The two teams traded points late leading to a 41-20 halftime score for the Camels.
WCU came out of the intermission fast with six early points to trim the deficit to 15, 41-26 with 7:07 to play in the quarter. Campbell answered back quickly with a 15-to-5 run that extended its lead to 25, 56-31 with 2:24 to play. WCU closed the quarter on a 7-0 spurt that made it 56-38 after three.
Campbell again opened the fourth fast with seven early points that allowed it to stretch to a 63-42 score with 7:22 to go. WCU pushed back with an 8-3 run but the hosts were able to keep distance and earn the 70-52 victory on Saturday afternoon.
Western Carolina (2-3) posted a 41.7% (20-of-48) shooting performance as Campbell finished shooting 38.1% (24-of-63). The Camels controlled the game from beyond the arc making 12 threes and limiting WCU to just two triples. Both teams posted 10-of-17 free throws. Campbell controlled the glass on Saturday with a 48-26 edge including an 18-3 advantage on the offensive glass. The Camels had a 13-9 lead in assists and forced 14 turnovers turning them into 23 points.
The Catamounts close out their four-game road trip on Wednesday, Nov. 22, with a trip to Durham to battle N.C. Central at 1 p.m… NCCU sits at 1-2 on the season as the Eagles face Johnson & Wales (Nov. 19) before welcoming the Catamounts to town. The matchup with NCCU will be shown on NCCUSN, with live stats available on CatamountSports.com.
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