CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Junior Jada Burton posted a season-high 15 points, but Western Carolina women's basketball couldn't overcome a fourth-quarter burst from Chattanooga as the Mocs escaped Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center with a 69-59 victory on Saturday afternoon. Burton eclipsed the 1,000 career point plateau in Saturday's contest.
"Another game of tremendous effort versus a very well-coached and talented team in Chattanooga. They went and made plays when we faltered in a few possessions. I felt we made great strides with decision-making the majority of today and were so much better on the boards, which has been our Achilles' heel," said head coach Kiley Hill.
He added, "We will continue to be that work in progress, and without a shadow of a doubt, we will get to a position we desire sooner than later."
Burton posted a solid 7-of-8 field goal performance on Saturday as she tallied four assists and a pair of rebounds. Zanoria Cruz just missed double-figures with nine points, four assists, and a pair of blocks. Lonasia Brewer led the Catamounts with seven rebounds, chipping in eight points and three assists.
Jada Guinn led the Mocs with 30 points, going 14-of-20 from the field, and added a team-high four steals to her stat line. Raven Thompson totaled 19 points, seven rebounds, and a pair of assists. Addie Porter rounded out the double-figure scorers with 12 points as Porter made three from beyond the arc.
Chattanooga (17-3, 5-0 SoCon) opened the game with a 7-4 burst to claim the early edge before the Catamounts used a 10-4 spurt of its own spurred on by threes from Wooten and Cruz to claim the 14-11 advantage with 3:37 to play in the opening quarter. The Mocs closed the frane on a 13-4 run that allowed the guests to lead 24-18 after the opening 10 minutes.
Burton connected on the opening layup of the quarter before five straight from Chattanooga stretched the lead to nine, 29-20, in the early stages of the second quarter. After a timely timeout, WCU responded with six straight points to whittle the deficit to three before UTC used a 6-2 run to stretch it to a seven-point lead at 35-28 with three minutes to play before the break. The Catamounts closed the half on a 7-3 run to pull to within three, 38-35, at intermission.
Western Carolina (5-16, 0-6 SoCon) used a Wooten three followed by a Tyja Beans jumper to regain the lead in the opening minutes of the second half. The Mocs cut the deficit to one, 44-43, with a 5-2 burst before a three-point play from Audrey Meyers pushed it to a four-point edge with 6:11 to play in the quarter. Following four straight from the guests, WCU scored four of the quarter's final six points to take a 51-49 lead to the last stanza.
The Mocs and Catamounts traded early blows in the fourth before the guests used a 15-4 run over the final seven minutes to retake and claim the 69-59 victory over WCU.
Western Carolina posted a 48.9% (22-of-45) field goal performance compared to 52% (26-of-50) for Chattanooga. WCU's field goal performance marked the best shooting outing for the Catamounts in SoCon play and third best of the season overall.
Both teams connected on four threes as WCU went 11-of-13 at the free throw line while the Mocs struggled, just 13-of-21 from the stripe. The hosts claimed a seven-rebound edge over UTC with a 29-22 advantage. WCU tallied 11 assists compared to nine for the guests. Chattanooga controlled the paint with a 44-32 advantage as the Mocs scored 15 fast break points compared to none for Western Carolina.
The Catamounts close out the first half of league play on Saturday, February 3, at 2 p.m. on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center against UNCG. WCU will celebrate National Women in Sports Day, and the matchup with the Spartans will be First Citizens Bank "Youth Basketball Day'. Before tip on Saturday, there will be a National Girls & Women's Sports Clinic from 1-1:45 pm featuring student-athletes from all women's teams at WCU with stations to do drills at for kids 6th grade and under. To register for the clinic, email tpope@wcu.edu.
The matchup with UNCG will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats 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).
