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Western Carolina University

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Schedule

Full
Catamounts at Charleston Southern
69
Winner Western Caro. WCU 3-10,0-0 SoCon
63
Queens (NC) Queens 5-7,0-0 ASUN
Winner
Western Caro. WCU
3-10,0-0 SoCon
69
Final
63
Queens (NC) Queens
5-7,0-0 ASUN
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Western Caro. WCU 12 20 17 20 69
Queens (NC) Queens 13 12 9 29 63

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | Greg Hartlage, Director of Media Relations

Catamounts Dethrone Royals in Midweek Action

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Senior Mya Love paced the Catamounts as one of four players in double figures as the Western Carolina women's basketball team claimed a 69-63 victory over Queens University on Wednesday afternoon at Curry Arena. Making her 2023-24 season debut, Love totaled 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting and made a pair of threes in the win. 
 
"It was a tremendous team effort today," said head coach Kiley Hill.  "We were able to continue positive momentum after our game Monday against Murray State and continue to learn how to win together. This was indeed a wonderful Christmas gift as we go into the holiday break."
 
Love paced the team by scoring the baker's dozen over 17 minutes in her first game action since March 2, 2023. Jada Burton again filled the stat sheet with 12 points, five rebounds, and eight assists. Burton's eight helpers set a new season-high for the Spartanburg, S.C. native. 
 
Sophomore Tamori Plantin posted a career-high with 10 points and matched her career-best six rebounds for WCU. In her second start at WCU, Nicole Azar poured in a career-high 10 points, connecting on a pair of threes in the victory while pulling down a career-best five rebounds. Lonasia Brewer led WCU with nine rebounds while also adding eight points. 
 
As a team, Western Carolina (3-10) totaled 41 rebounds on Wednesday, the most in a game for the Catamounts since pulling down 42 boards in their Nov. 16th win over UNCW. 
 
Queens (5-7) was led offensively by Kinley Brown and Tameia Shaw, scoring 14 points as both players made five field goals including one from beyond the arc. Alexan Johnson missed double figures for the Royals with nine points, adding three rebounds and a pair of steals. Jordyn Weaver led the way for the hosts with 14 rebounds, which included nine offensive boards as she added seven points. 
 
Following an early bucket by the Royals, WCU answered quickly with a 7-2 run to jump out to the three-point lead with 4:56 in the opening stanza. 
 
Queens halted the run with a quick bucket before Love connected on a 3-pointer to increase the lead to four, 10-6 with 4:28 to play. The Royals closed on a 7-2 spurt in the final three minutes, allowing the hosts to take a slim 13-12 lead to the second quarter. 
 
The Catamounts quickly regained the edge with a 3-pointer from Azar in the opening minutes of the second quarter before four unanswered points pushed the Royals back in front. WCU responded in a big way with a 10-1 burst over the next three minutes to gain a seven-point edge at 25-18 midway through the second quarter.
 
The guests kept the pressure on the Royals with five unanswered from Love and Burton to push it to a 12-point game at 30-18 with 3:23 to play. Queens cut into the margin down the stretch with a 7-2 burst to leave it 32-25 WCU at the break. 
 
Both teams remained tight in the early going of the second half as WCU scored four at the free throw line to help maintain an eight-point edge at 36-28. Queens scored four of the following six points before the Catamounts went on an 11-2 run over the final five minutes which included scoring seven consecutive points to take the 49-34 lead to the fourth. 
 
With the Royals looking to make a run at WCU's lead, the two teams started close in the fourth with a couple of quick runs at each other on the scoreboard before the hosts used a 10-2 run over a two-and-a-half minute stretch to whittle the Catamounts lead to eight, 55-47 with 4:02 to play.
 
Zanoria Cruz connected on a layup that stopped the burst from the Royals before an 8-3 Queens run cut the WCU lead to five, 60-55 with 1:32 to play. Chelsea Wooten connected on a three on the ensuing possession, followed by a pair of free throws from Azar to stretch the lead back to 10, 65-55. The Royals continued to extend the game down the stretch, using a 7-2 run inside the final minute before a pair of Cruz free throws finished the 69-63 victory. 
 
Western Carolina finished shooting 46.7% (21-of-45) while limiting Queens to 32.8% (22-of-67) from the field. WCU tallied five from beyond the arc compared to three for the home team. Both teams spent a lot of time at the charity stripe as the Catamounts went 22-of-32 and the Royals were 16-of-28 at the line. The two teams were even on the glass, pulling down 41 rebounds as WCU had 32 on the defensive glass, and Queens had 21 rebounds on the offensive end. 
 
Queens outscored Western Carolina in the paint by four, 30-26, as the Catamounts, led by 13 from Love and 10 from Plantin, won the bench-scoring battle 38-20 on Wednesday. WCU totaled 17 helpers on its 21 made baskets compared to 10 assists for the Royals.  
 
The Catamounts take a 10-day hiatus for the holidays before returning to the hardwood on Saturday, December 30, for a 1 p.m. tip against Southern Wesleyan on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center. The matchup will be the front side of a Catamount basketball doubleheader with the men's team welcoming King University at 4 p.m. The matchup with the SWU Warriors will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats and live audio by the Catamount Sports Network, both 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).
 
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