CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina women's basketball dropped a nonconference home game to the visiting Presbyterian Blue Hose 60-41 on Saturday afternoon on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center.
Jada Burton led the Catamounts with nine points as she connected 4-of-8 from the field and added a pair of steals to her stat line. Tyja Beans led WCU on the glass, matching her career-high with eight rebounds, including five offensive boards. Beans also had four points and a pair of steals. Reagan Trumm and Zanoria Cruz each poured in six points for the hosts.
Mara Neira paced the Blue Hose on Saturday with 19 points as she connected on 5-of-9 triples, pulled four rebounds down, and tallied three steals. Bryanna Brady added 11 points, and Tilda Sjökvist finished with 10 to round out the double-figure scoring for PC. Paige Kindseth helped pace the guests on the glass with seven boards.
Presbyterian (6-3) opened the scoring quickly with a 6-3 run in the opening three minutes to gain the early edge on Saturday before the Catamounts, behind a pair of threes from Trumm, closed on a 12-2 run to take a 15-8 lead after the opening 10 minutes. It would prove to be WCU's highest-scoring period against PC.
The Blue Hose started the second quarter quickly with a 10-1 run to regain the slim 18-16 lead with 7:15 to play in the opening half. Tyra Robinson had a jumper followed by a Cruz triple, allowing the Catamounts to take the 21-18 edge before PC closed the half on a 9-4 spurt to take a 27-25 lead to the halftime break.
Presbyterian opened the second half fast with an 8-3 spurt to stretch the lead to seven, 35-28 with 2:56 to play in the third quarter. Following a Jada Burton layup for WCU, PC scored six of the final nine points to take a 41-33 lead to the last 10 minutes.
The Blue Hose seized control of the game in the fourth quarter as they went on a 12-4 run to begin the frame and stretched the lead to 16, 53-37 with 6:05 to play. The guests maintained the margin over the final five minutes as the Blue Hose earned the 60-41 victory.
Presbyterian posted a 41.8% (23 of 55) field goal percentage and limited Western Carolina to 30.8% (16 of 52) in the contest. PC made five threes compared to four from the Catamounts. The Blue Hose went 9-of-16 at the line and the Catamounts were 5-of-9 at the charity stripe. PC controlled the glass on Saturday by 14, 43-29, including 18 offensive boards. The Blue Hose controlled the paint by 18, 36-18, as Western Carolina (2-6) had the advantage off the bench, scoring by four, 16-12.
The Catamounts are set for their education day game on Tuesday, Dec. 5, at 11:30 a.m. at Ingles Court from the Ramsey Center against USC Upstate. The matchup with the Spartans is the third game of the four straight home games for WCU. The game with Upstate will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats available on CatamountSports.com and free admission for the lunchtime tilt.
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