CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Freshman Tyra Robinson led Western Carolina with a career-high 20 points along with a career-best seven rebounds as the Catamounts suffered an 89-79 defeat to Murray State on Monday afternoon in women's basketball action on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center.
"I thought we played hard throughout the game, but in the end, we just ran out of gas with depth," said head coach Kiley Hill. "Tyra played well and Bailey Trumm came in and hit a couple of threes for us, but right now, we're just missing some guard rotations which hurts us."
Robinson led the way off the bench with 20 points, connecting on 9-of-10 from the field which included hitting her first six attempts including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the first quarter. Robinson also led WCU with seven rebounds in the contest.
Chelsea Wooten finished with 17 points including a team-high five made threes while tying her season-high with seven assists. Zanoria Cruz added 11 points making 5-of-6 field goals and pulling down four rebounds. Audrey Meyers rounded out the quartet of double-figure scoring with 10 points and added five rebounds. Jada Burton matched her season-high with seven assists while adding seven points and a pair of steals.
As a team, WCU dished out 22 assists, including the seven apiece coming from Wooten and Burton, as the Catamounts finished one off their season-high set in the season-opening win over Agnes Scott. Western Carolina connected on 31 made field goals, a mark only topped once during the 2023-24 campaign, and finished one off of the season-high in threes with 10 as the Catamounts made 11 a few weeks ago against USC Upstate.
Katelyn Young led Murray State with a double-double, tallying 29 points along with 10 rebounds and a pair of steals. Hannah McKay totaled 14 points and seven rebounds for the Racers on Monday. Ava Learn rounded out the double-digit scoring for Murray State with 11 points.
The Racers used their high-octane offense and full-court trapping defense out of the gates opening with a 12-3 run over the game's first three minutes to gain the early lead. An 11-5 spurt from the Catamounts allowed WCU to cut the deficit to three, 17-14, with 4:42 to play in the first quarter. Bailey Trumm made a pair of threes in that early spurt, while Wooten added one. After the Racers added a pair of threes before WCU closed the quarter on an 11-2 burst, allowing the hosts to even score at 25.
In her WCU debut, Nicole Azar began the second quarter with a 3-pointer to give the Catamounts a quick lead before a 6-0 burst from Murray State pushed the guests back in front in the early stages of the second quarter.
WCU quickly responded with seven of the next 10 points coming from Wooten and Robinson to regain a one-point edge, 35-34 with 5:50 to play in the half. After the two teams went back and forth, Murray State used an 11-3 run over the final three minutes to stretch the lead to seven, 49-42 at the break.
The Racers started fast in the second half with six unanswered out of the gates before a quick five in a row from the Catamounts cut the deficit to eight, 55-47 with 5:50 to play in the quarter. Both teams went back and forth over the next three minutes with Murray State scoring seven of the next 11 points to push the lead to 11, 62-51 with 2:30 to play. Murray State took a 65-55 lead to the final 10 minutes in the afternoon tilt.
Murray State used a 10-5 run in the opening three minutes of the fourth quarter to push the advantage to 15, 75-60 with 6:33 to play. WCU used a 7-2 run over the next three minutes to try and cut the deficit down in the final minutes on Monday, but the guests had pushed the lead back to 12, 82-70 with 2:13 to play. WCU scored seven of the next 10 to cut the deficit to eight but could not get it closer as the Racers closed out the 89-79 victory.
Western Carolina shot 50% (31-of-62) from the field and was able to limit Murray State to 38.2% (29-of-76) from the floor. Both teams were effective from deep, with the Catamounts making 10 threes and the Racers connecting on seven triples. Murray State held a decided advantage at free throw line, finishing 24-of-31 from the stripe as WCU went 7-of-12. The Racers won the rebounding battle by the count of 50-31. Western Carolina doubled the Racers in the assist column by 11, 22-11. Murray State won a tight battle in points in the paint at 40-38, while the Catamounts won the bench-scoring battle 30-28.
The Catamounts travel to Charlotte for a 3 p.m. tip on Wednesday, Dec. 20, against Queens from Curry Arena. The Royals sit at a 5-6 record on the season having dropped 2-of-3 entering Wednesday afternoon. The matchup with Queens will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats available on CatamountSports.com.
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