Cullowhee, N.C. – A fourth quarter run over the final five minutes of regulation allowed the league's defending champion Chattanooga Mocs to escape Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center with a hard-fought 67-56 victory over Western Carolina on Thursday evening in the Southern Conference women's basketball opener for both squads.

WCU's Chelsea Wooten sank a 3-pointer from the right wing to put the Catamounts ahead by one, 50-49, with 5:12 to play in the final frame. However, UTC guard Caia Elisaldelz converted a layup 16 seconds later to propel the Mocs to the lead and started the run to the finish.

The Catamounts move to 10-6, 0-1 in league play, while the Mocs advance to 6-8 overall, 1-0 in the SoCon.

Western Carolina put three players in double figures led by 17 points from AC Carter, her 12th consecutive double-digit effort. Zanoria Cruz finished with 14 points for her third-straight double-digit scoring effort, while Tyja Beans, who battled through an apparent lower body issue in the fourth quarter, returned to the game to chip in 12 points.

Beans tied for the team lead in rebounds with Jada Burton at seven boards, while Cruz collected six of her own. Burton dished out a team-best five assists and was the only Catamounts to record more than two.

The Mocs were led by a season-high 21 points from Caia Elisaldelz to pace four in double figures. Ava Card scored 11 off the bench with both Brooke Anya and Karsen Murphy scoring 10. Anya boarded a UTC-best six rebounds before fouling out in the fourth.

Both teams fought over brief periods of leverage throughout the night with the largest lead accrued by either team before the final media timeout being a five-point advantage held by the Mocs with 3:18 to play in the second quarter.

Scoring proved hard to come by for both teams in the first quarter as neither team broke the nine-point barrier until Jada Burton finished off a tip-in layup on her own miss with 2:53 to go in the opening frame giving the Catamounts a 10-9 lead. Chattanooga responded with Elisadelz's fourth made shot of the opening 10 minutes to take an 11-10 lead with 1:30 left before Chelsea Wooten took back the lead late. Chattanooga's Ava Card hit a 3-pointer with seconds to go on the clock to send the teams to the second quarter 14-12 in favor of the road squad.  

Neither team was able to pull away in the second quarter as the two combined for 11 made field goals - WCU shooting 6-of-12 and UTC posting a 5-for-13 mark from the floor in the second quarter. The Catamounts capitalized on a critical sequence in the final 90 seconds of the half to take a one-point lead into the break. Carter sparked the Catamount sprint with a driving layup before Beans was rewarded with an "and-1" opportunity after a Mocs foul. The sophomore swished her foul shot before Elisadelz hit a jumper with 27 seconds to go. Inbounding the ball for the final shot of the half with just 2.8 seconds showing, Jada Burton connected with Carter as the latter knocked down the attempt at the buzzer, granting WCU a 28-27 lead at the break. 

Wednesday's third quarter progressed similarly to the previous two as the teams traded body blows and a lead that see-sawed as high as four points in either direction. The Catamounts held their largest lead of the game with 7:26 to play in the third after a layup by Beans. Elisadelz, though, recorded her 14th point of the game with 45 seconds left in the quarter to stretch the Mocs' lead to four before AC Carter finished the Catamount scoring in the period with another successful old-fashioned three-point play. Frode Flos van der Schans hit a free throw with a second to spare as the Mocs led by a pair, 43-41, headed into the final quarter.  

Both teams saw stronger offensive performances to close out the game as the Mocs recorded their highest scoring period of the day (24) and the Catamounts their second highest (15). Both shot better than 50-percent in the final quarter, but the Mocs were ever so slightly more efficient, knocking down 64.3-percent of their attempts to close out the game.

The two teams again battled in a one-possession game down the stretch with Chattanooga holding a 52-50 lead with 4:36 to play. Unfortunately, WCU made its next field goal with 1:14 to play as part of the Mocs' 18-to-6 close.  

Catamount Notables:  

• Three Catamounts recorded double-digit scoring efforts in the defeat, with AC Carter's 12th consecutive double-figure scoring game; 
• Tyja Beans, Jada Burton, and Zanoria Cruz all recorded 6 or more rebounds in the SoCon opener, accounting for 20 of WCU's 26 total rebounds ... Taj Hunter was the only other Catamount to record a board in the loss, picking up one;
• Hunter saw her first game action since the 77-64 win over UNC Asheville on Dec. 21;
• The Catamounts shot 45.5 percent in the conference opener, their 10th game this season shooting at least 45%.

Up Next for The Catamounts: 

WCU returns to action now on Sunday afternoon as a wintry mix makes its way to Cullowhee during the day on Friday. Originally scheduled for Saturday (Jan. 10), the women's portion of the first SoCon doubleheader of the season for the Catamounts tips at 1 p.m. against the ETSU Bucs. Sunday's game against the Blue Ridge mountain foe is a "Blackout Ramsey" rivalry game presented by First Bank.  

The Catamounts then hit the road to face the Furman Paladins in their temporary home at North Greenville's Hayes Gym on January 16 for their first road game of conference play.  

Check back with CatamountSports.com or the Catamount Athletics social media channels for any additional weather-related updates of this weekend's schedule as Winter Storm Cora tracks towards the Carolinas in the coming days. 

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).