CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Junior transfer Chelsea Wooten tallied a team-high 21 points as Western Carolina women's basketball suffered its first loss of the young season in a 67-49 defeat to visiting Radford on Thursday night at Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center.
"I thought we were really flat throughout the game tonight, including being lethargic on the offensive end," said WCU head coach Kiley Hill after the game. "We had some good things defensively, but at times also had some bad breakdowns."
Wooten's 21 points came on 8-of-16 shooting with four 3-pointers. The McKinney, Texas, native added a game-high five steals to her stat line. It was the second-straight game a WCU player has eclipsed the 20-point plateau in the 2023-24 season as sophomore Reagan Trumm began the season with 20 points in the Catamounts season-opening win on Monday over Agnes Scott. Also for the Catamounts on Thursday, freshman Tyja Beans added nine points on 4-of-8 shooting. Lonasia Brewer pulled down a team-high seven rebounds as Jada Burton distributed a game-high six assists.
"Overall, I thought Chelsea (Wooten) was trying to be really aggressive when other parts of our team were not, and I was proud of some of the things she did tonight," added Hill. "We had some good team effort during segments and phases of the game but not an overall great team effort."
Ashlyn Traylor-Walker led the offensive attack for Radford with a double-double effort of 25 points and 12 rebounds, adding a team-high four assists. Tainya Hanner added 13 points and five rebounds, while Olivia Wagner tallied 11 points on 5-of-7 field goals for the Highlanders. Terissa Lavoile-Brice added nine rebounds to join Traylor-Walker leading the guests on the glass.
Radford (2-0) started the contest quickly with a 7-0 run out of the gates to gain the early edge through the opening media timeout. Western Carolina got on the scoreboard over the final four minutes of the opening frame as four different players connected on baskets as the Catamounts closed on a 9-2 run to make it a 9-9 score after a quarter of play.
The second quarter started even as both teams connected on a pair of three-point plays to even the score at 15 two minutes into the frame. The Highlanders created some separation over the next three minutes using a 7-4 spurt that pushed the guests in front 22-19 with 4:37 to play in the first half. The score remained tight down the stretch with a Wooten jumper making it 27-25 in the final minute of the half before Radford scored five of the last eight points to take a 32-28 lead to the break.
The Highlanders started the second half quickly, using a 17-to-3 run over the opening six and a half minutes to stretch their advantage to 18, 49-31 at the 3:29 mark of the third quarter. However, the Catamounts closed strong in the third quarter with a 9-1 burst over the final 2:21 to cut the visitor's lead to 10, 50-40 heading to the fourth quarter.
Radford again opened fast in the fourth period, scoring seven of the first 10 points to stretch the advantage back to 14, 57-43 with 6:23 to play in the contest. The Catamounts managed to cut the deficit to 12 quickly before Radford outscored the Catamounts 10-4 run to claim the 67-49 victory.
Western Carolina (1-1) was limited to 32.7% (18-of-55) from the floor while Radford posted a 52% (26-of-50) performance from the field. Both teams connected on five 3-pointers in Thursday night's tilt. The Highlanders made 10-of-17 free throws compared to an 8-of-11 stat line for WCU. Radford controlled the glass by 14, 40-26, with 31 of the Highlanders 40 coming on the defensive glass. Western Carolina forced 18 turnovers, with 11 of those coming via steal. The guests had a 40-22 edge in points in the paint and a slim 12-7 advantage in fast break points.
The Catamounts embark on a nine-day, four-game road swing beginning on Monday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. EST / 6 p.m. CST against UAB from Bartow Arena in Birmingham, Ala. The Blazers opened their 2023-24 season with a 70-63 win on Monday against Alabama A&M. The matchup with UAB will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live stats on CatamountSports.com.
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