CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina women's basketball returns home for the first time in 19 days on Tuesday when the Catamounts welcome Georgia State out of the Sun Belt for a 7 p.m. tip. The post-Thanksgiving holiday tilt with the Panthers will take place at Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center, with the contest being shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required). Live stats are available at CatamountSports.com.
Matchup: Georgia State (3-2) vs Western Carolina (2-4)
Date: Tuesday, Nov. 28
Time: 7 p.m.
Site: Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center (Cullowhee, N.C.)
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Live Video: ESPN+
Twitter: @CatamountWBB
Western Carolina looks to rebound from a 69-58 defeat at the hands of N.C. Central in Durham last Wednesday. In the loss, Lonasia Brewer tallied a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds while dishing out six assists for WCU. Audrey Meyers added 12 points and seven rebounds for the Catamounts.
Tuesday's game starts a home-heavy stretch of contests for WCU as the Catamounts play nine of their next 11 games on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center. Western Carolina opens the homestand on Tuesday, followed by games against Presbyterian (Dec. 2), USC Upstate (Dec. 5), and UNC Asheville (Dec. 9).
The two road dates in this long home stretch of games come at North Carolina (Dec. 15) and Queens (Dec. 20), with a home game against Murray State (Dec. 18) sandwiched between the lone away contests in December. Following the holidays, WCU has another four-game homestand beginning with Southern Wesleyan (Dec. 30), Montreat (Jan. 7) and the Catamounts first two SoCon games against Furman (Jan. 11) and Wofford (Jan. 13).
Lonasia Brewer comes into Tuesday's tilt with a 54.4% field goal percentage which ranks second in the conference. She's tallied four games of over 57% shooting, including a pair of games just under 70%. Jada Burton sits in third with 27 assists averaging 4.5 a game thus far in the Catamounts first six games. Chelsea Wooten checks into the week in a tie for eighth in assists with 18 helpers thus far after tallying seven at NCCU. As a team, WCU is second in field goal percentage (42.9%), third in blocks (20), third in steals (48), and third in assists (93).
Georgia State enters with a 3-2 record as the Panthers fell by the score of 75-68 to Elon in their last on-court action. GSU opened the season with wins over Berry (78-41), Western Michigan (71-58), and Kennesaw State (62-52) to begin the year before dropping matchups to Bethune-Cookman and the Phoenix.
Mikyla Tolivert, a preseason All-Sun Belt selection, leads the Panthers on the offensive side of the court, averaging 14.3 points per game as she's done a lot of work at the foul line, making 25-of-29 (86.2%). Crystal Henderson averages 10.3 points per game, along with a team-high 22 assists. Alyssa Phillip leads Georgia State on the glass with 41 rebounds, while Deasia Merrill has 30 boards thus far.
Georgia State finished the 2022-23 season with a 12-21 mark, including a 5-13 record in the Sun Belt Conference. The Panthers fell to Old Dominion in the second round of the 2023 Sun Belt Tournament after defeating South Alabama in the tournament's opening game. GSU was tabbed 13th in the league's Preseason Poll under the direction of Gene Hill, who's in his sixth year leading Georgia State. Tolivert was named to the league's third-team Preseason All-Conference, announced before the start of the 2023-24 season.
WCU and Georgia State have met 14 prior times, with the Panthers holding a 9-5 edge in the all-time series. Georgia State has earned wins in three of the past four games, with the Panthers earning a 74-61 win in Atlanta during the 2020-21 season in the last head-to-head meeting between the two schools. In the previous matchup with Georgia State, Kyla Allison tallied 24 points and Zanoria Cruz added 16 points to the stat line for WCU. Tuesday is the seventh time the two schools have played in Cullowhee with WCU winning four of the prior six meetings.
Following Tuesday's action in Cullowhee, the Catamounts are set to welcome in Presbyterian on Saturday, Dec. 2, for a 4 p.m. start at Ingles Court from the Ramsey Center. The matchup with the Blue Hose is the middle game of the four straight home games for WCU and among the nine of 11 games played in Cullowhee. The game with the Blue Hose will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats available on CatamountSports.com.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount women's basketball and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@catamounts, Catamountwbb).
