Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Western Carolina University

Western Carolina
The Official Home of Catamount Athletics

Schedule

Full
Tyja Beans vs UNC Asheville - FRONT
Ashley T. Evans
59
Winner UNC Asheville AVL 4-5,0-0 Big South
48
Western Caro. WCU 2-8,0-0 SoCon
Winner
UNC Asheville AVL
4-5,0-0 Big South
59
Final
48
Western Caro. WCU
2-8,0-0 SoCon
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
UNC Asheville AVL 17 11 20 11 59
Western Caro. WCU 11 19 7 11 48

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

Women's Basketball Falls in Homestand Finale to Asheville

CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina women's basketball closed out a season-long four-game homestand on Saturday against mountain rival UNC Asheville as the visiting Bulldogs tallied the 59-48 victory on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center. 
 
Chelsea Wooten carried over her sharp shooting from deep on Tuesday as the junior tallied a team-high 15 points on five threes. Jada Burton finished with 11 points and four assists. Audrey Meyers led the way for WCU on the glass with eight rebounds and both Zanoria Cruz and Tyja Beans had five boards. Beans led the way in the assist column with five helpers, and had two steals and a pair of blocks.
 
UNC Asheville was led in the stat sheet by Lalmani Simmons with 20 points, McKinley Brooks-Sumpter finished with 17, and Jaila Lee totaled 11 points for the Bulldogs. Brooks-Sumpter, Lee, and Mallory Bruce led the guests on the glass with six rebounds. Brooks-Sumpter had a team-high four assists.
 
UNC Asheville (4-5) opened the scoring quickly on Saturday with an 8-2 run out of the gates to gain the early lead. WCU answered with six straight points over the next four minutes to even the score at 8. The Bulldogs closed the quarter on a 9-3 run that allowed the guests to take a 17-11 lead after the opening 10 minutes.
 
The Bulldogs opened the offense in the second with a quick triple before an 8-0 burst from WCU allowed the deficit to be cut to one, 20-19, with 6:46 to play in the first half. UNC Asheville quickly increased the lead to three before Western Carolina answered with an 11-2 run over the next three minutes, allowing the hosts to pull in front by six, 30-24 with 2:45 to play in the half. Asheville inched closer in the final minutes to make it 30-28 Catamounts at intermission. 
 
Western Carolina (2-8) opened the second half with a quick 3-pointer from Wooten before the Bulldogs went on a 12-1 run, allowing Asheville to gain a 40-34 edge with 3:48 to play in the third quarter. UNC Asheville increased the lead late with eight of the final 11 points, giving the Bulldogs a 48-37 lead after three quarters. 
 
The Catamounts battled back at the start of the fourth with seven straight points that cut the deficit to four, 48-44, before the Bulldogs used an 11-2 run over the duration of the fourth quarter to stretch the lead out and ultimately claim a 59-48 victory. 
 
WCU posted a 37.8% (17-of-45) shooting performance from the floor and limited UNC Asheville to 29.2% (19-of-65). Both teams were effective from deep as Asheville made six threes, and the Catamounts connected on five. The guests used the free throw line to their advantage making 15-of-21 at the line compared to 9-of-17 for WCU. UNC Asheville won the rebounding battle by six, 41-35, including pulling down 17 offensive rebounds. The Catamounts held a slight edge in points in the paint at 22-20 as the Bulldogs won the second chance scoring battle 12-5 and fast break 11-8. The Bulldogs outscored the Catamounts in bench points by 19, 28-9. 
 
The Catamounts are off for final exams until Friday, Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. when WCU hits the road for a 7 p.m. tip against North Carolina from the Carmichael Center in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels currently sit with a 6-3 record on the season and rank No. 24 in the Associated Press (A.P.) and USA Today/WBCA Coaches poll. North Carolina faces #17 UConn on Sunday afternoon before hosting the Catamounts next Friday night. The matchup with the Tar Heels will be shown on ACCNX (paid subscription required), with live stats available on CatamountSports.com and live audio through the Catamount Sports Network. 
 
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).
 
 
Print Friendly Version