CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina women's basketball wraps up a brief two-game road swing on Saturday with a trip to Hawkins Arena to battle Mercer with tip-off set for 2 p.m. The matchup with the Bears is the final road game in January as WCU plays five of its next seven contests in Cullowhee.
Saturday's action will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats available at CatamountSports.com.
Matchup: Western Carolina (5-13, 0-3 SoCon) at Mercer (7-12, 1-2 SoCon)
Date: Saturday, January 20
Time: 2 p.m.
Site: Hawkins Arena (Macon, Ga.)
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast
Live Video: Watch ESPN
Twitter: @CatamountWBB
GAME NOTES
The Catamounts look to bounce back from a setback on Thursday as WCU fell 48-47 to Samford in Birmingham, Ala. Western Carolina used a strong 21-5 run in the second half to rally to a five-point edge in the fourth quarter. However, Samford used a pair of late free throws in the final seconds to defeat the Catamounts.
Chelsea Wooten led the way offensively for WCU on Thursday with 16 points in the defeat. She enters Saturday's tilt ranked 10th in the league in scoring at 11.7 points per game. Wooten has also reached double figures in her last four games and eight games overall in the 2023-24 campaign. She continues to pace the conference with 45 threes and 2.6 3-pointers per game on the season. With her four assists on Thursday, Jada Burton remains third in the league with 69 assists on the season, averaging 3.8 helpers per game which is also good enough for third in the conference. Burton sits in a tie for fifth in the league with 25 steals as she's tallied multiple steals in 10 games this season.
Wooten sits atop the league in conference play with eight 3-pointers made after connecting on three at Samford on Thursday night. Lonasia Brewer is one of three players tied for second in the conference with eight offensive rebounds through the opening stages of league action. Burton is tied for third in defensive rebounds in the same stretch for WCU.
Coming off of its first SoCon win of the season, Mercer comes into conference play with a 7-12 record, including a 1-2 mark in league action. The Bears earned the 76-52 home victory over UNCG on Thursday night.
The Bears are led by Summah Evans, who's seen action in the last six games, averaging 12.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per contest. Evans claimed a double-double of 26 points and 10 rebounds against Kennesaw State. Briana Peguero sits with 11.6 points per game, and Stacie Jones is at 11.5 ppg on the season. Peguero has scored double figures in 14 contests, led by 19 against Marist, as Jones hit her career-high on Thursday with 25 points against UNCG.
Jones leads the Bears with 7.1 rebounds per game. She's eclipsed 10 rebounds six times and has tallied four double-doubles. Deja Williams leads the way for Mercer with 37 threes and 47 assists.
The Bears finished 12-16 in the 2022-23 season with an 8-6 mark in conference games as Mercer fell in overtime to UNCG in the opening round of the SoCon tournament last year. Mercer was tabbed third in this season's coaches poll while receiving a first-place vote and was fourth in the media poll under the leadership of four-time SoCon Coach of the Year Susie Gardner who's in her 14th season at the helm for Mercer.
Mercer comes into Saturday's tilt holding a commanding 26-1 record all-time in the series with WCU as the Bears have claimed each of the past nine meetings. The Catamounts are looking to claim their first win over Mercer in Macon, going winless in their previous 11 tries. In last year's matchups, Mya Love had a team-high 17 points in Macon, along with Kyla Allison adding 14. In the home matchup, Allison led the team with 13 as Endia Holliday pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds.
Following Saturday's action in Macon, the Catamounts return home for the first of three straight at home to close out the first half of SoCon play. WCU hosts mountain-rival ETSU on Thursday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m. to continue the "Beat the Bucs" series. At the request of WCU students, every home matchup against ETSU in the "Beat the Bucs" series will be a Black Out with fans encouraged to wear their black WCU gear to the game – and where applicable, the WCU team will wear their black Nike uniforms.
The matchup with the Bucs will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats and live audio provided by the Catamount Sports Network 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).
