Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina women's basketball closes its first road week of the 2025 Southern Conference season on Saturday as it travels to Spartanburg, S.C., and the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium to face the Wofford Terriers. Tip-off of game number four of the SoCon slate is set for 2 p.m.
Saturday afternoon's game will be live streamed on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with access to live stats available at CatamountSports.com.
Saturday's Women's Basketball Matchup
Western Carolina (11-7, 1-2 SoCon) at Wofford (10-5, 2-0 SoCon)
Jan. 18, 2025, | Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium | Spartanburg, S.C. | 2:00 p.m.
Watch (ESPN+): https://tinyurl.com/2s3kzerb
Live stats: https://tinyurl.com/ahm6xc8y
Looking around the Southern Conference – Sat., Jan. 18:
Western Carolina at Wofford | 2 p.m.
UNCG at Furman (at North Greenville Univ.) | 2 p.m.
Samford at ETSU | 2 p.m.
Mercer at Chattanooga | 2 p.m.
Full Court Press:
The Catamounts and Terriers meet for the 64th installment of the series, which the Catamounts lead 36-27 all-time. Wofford has chipped away at the WCU's series lead in recent years, going 8-2 in the last 10 matchups. The last Catamount victory in Spartanburg came during the 2018 season as WCU earned a 68-62 win over the Terriers.
The two teams saw two common opponents in the nonconference schedule – the Southern Wesleyan Warriors and the UNC Asheville Bulldogs. Both teams went 2-0 in those games, though the Catamount victory over UNC Asheville came on the road in a 77-64 decision while Wofford claimed a 75-56 win over UNCA at home.
Additionally, the two teams have already battled the Furman Paladins in the SoCon slate. The Catamounts fell 82-73 in a high-scoring affair with the Paladins last time out on Thursday night, while Wofford claimed a 68-51 victory in their SoCon opener with Furman.
Players to Watch:
The Catamounts had four double-figure point totals against Furman with Chelsea Wooten leading the team with her second 20-point performance of the season. Wooten hit five 3-pointers in the road loss, including four in the second half, propelling her to the 200 made treys milestone for her collegiate career.
Jada Burton was second on the team with 17 total points and nearly recorded a double-double as she collected eight rebounds and five assists. Tyja Beans did record a double-double, her second in as many games, as the sophomore posted 14 points and 11 boards in the loss. She is now second in the conference in points per game with a 12.9 average.
WCU will look for AC Carter to have a bounce-back performance after being held to just six points against the Paladins. The graduate student transfer had strung together 13 consecutive double-digit point efforts before Thursday night's setback. She'll look to add to her conference-leading total of 249 points against the Terriers.
Wofford is led in points per game scoring by standout Rachel Rose who averages 12.5 points per game. However, Rose has had several long stretches this season without a game appearance, competing in only six total games for the Terriers and having last taken the floor against Erskine on Jan. 2. In her absence, the Wofford offense has been run by three underclassmen: sophomores Maddie Heiss and Evangelia Paulk, as well as freshman Molly Masingale. The trio all average double-digit points per game while Paulk leads the team in rebounds with 108.
Up Next for The Catamounts:
The Catamounts have the midweek off after a flurry of games to open the Southern Conference schedule. WCU returns to action on Jan. 25 for the National Girls and Women in Sports Day as they host the UNC Greensboro Spartans.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount women's basketball and WCU Athletics through our social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@catamountwbb, @wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@CatamountWBB, and @catamounts).
