Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina women's basketball embraces its next opportunity to jump back into the win column on Sunday as they host the East Tennessee State Buccaneers in the frontend of a Southern Conference hoops doubleheader. Originally scheduled for Saturday but postponed due to the impacts of Winter Storm Cora, tip-off of WCU's second league game of the season is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Sunday's twin bill opener against mountain rival ETSU is a "Blackout Ramsey" game presented by First Bank with the team slated to wear their black Nike uniforms. Fans are encouraged to wear their black WCU gear to the game. The Catamount men's squad hosts Mercer in game two on Sunday at 3:30 p.m.
Both of Sunday's basketball games will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with a free online audio broadcast provided through the Catamount Sports Network and live stats are available at CatamountSports.com.
Sunday's Women's Basketball Matchup:
Western Carolina (10-6, 0-1 SoCon) vs ETSU (9-7, 0-1 SoCon)
Jan. 12, 2025 | Ramsey Center | Cullowhee, N.C. | 1:00 p.m.
Watch (ESPN+): https://tinyurl.com/bdex2kpk
Listen (CSN): https://tinyurl.com/8c642zsk
Live Stats: https://tinyurl.com/yzx5bwn4
Tickets: https://tinyurl.com/rxycvvhw
Looking Around the Southern Conference: January 11/12
Chattanooga vs. UNC Greensboro | 2:00 p.m. (1/11/25)
Samford vs. Mercer | 2:00 p.m. (1/11/25)
ETSU vs. Western Carolina | 1:00 p.m. (1/12/25)
Furman vs. Wofford | 2:00 p.m. (1/12/25)
Full Court Press:
The Catamounts and Bucs meet for the 83rd time overall with WCU trailing in the all-time series, 23-59. Western Carolina looks to halt a six-game skid in the series Sunday and pick up its first home win over the Blue Ridge Mountain rival since winning three straight between 2005 (65-60), 2007 (91-63), and 2013 (58-56).
The two teams shared the floor with five common opponents during the nonconference season, going 4-1 in those games. The Catamounts earned wins over Campbell, Radford, Presbyterian, and UNC Asheville, but fell at home to Gardner-Webb. ETSU pulled off a 44-42 low-scoring victory over Gardner-Webb but dropped their matchup with Campbell 58-51 in Buies Creek.
Players to Watch:
AC Carter led the Catamounts in their SoCon opener with 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting on Thursday night against Chattanooga. Zanoria Cruz and Tyja Beans also enjoyed strong offensive performances with 14 and 12-point efforts, respectively. The two were also effective on the glass for the Catamounts, combining for 13 of WCU's 25 total rebounds.
Jada Burton chipped in a little bit of everything in the loss to the Mocs with her fourth consecutive game with at least five assists. She also tied with Beans for the team lead in boards with seven and had two steals and a block to go along with her four points. She'll look to cut back on the turnovers against the Bucs as the senior guard had nine in the conference opener.
Chelsea Wooten and Beans were the only Catamounts to record double-digit scoring outings against the Bucs in either matchup last season, posting 10 points apiece in the 56-47 home loss. Beans also collected 12 rebounds in the defeat on the road, her highest total in a game in her freshman season.
The Bucs have a force on the glass in junior forward Meghan Downing. The 6-2 New Madison, Ohio product is one of eight players in the SoCon to hit triple-digit boards this season, recording 112 through her 16 game appearances. Offensively, ETSU is led by Bralyn Milton who averages 12.0 points per game, doing her damage in comparatively limited minutes. She has appeared in only 10 of ETSU's 16 games with 289 total minutes of play this season. The sharpshooter for ETSU, Courtney Moore is second on the team in points per game with an 11.3 average and leads the team in 3-pointers with 29.
Familiar Face:
ETSU head coach Brenda Mock Brown is familiar with western North Carolina. The daughter of Weaver and Brenda Kirkpatrick, she is a 1996 graduate of Tuscola High where she was a two-time All-America honorable mention and a three-time Asheville Citizen-Times Player of the Year for the Mountaineers.
Up Next for The Catamounts:
The first road trip of the conference season awaits the Catamounts with back-to-back trips to the upstate of South Carolina as they face the Furman Paladins and the Wofford Terriers. The January 16 tip with the Paladins is set for 6 p.m. in Furman's temporary home of North Greenville's Hayes Gym. The Catamounts will swing back down to battle the Terriers in Spartanburg on January 18 with tip-off scheduled for 2 p.m.
