Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina sank a program single-game record 15 3-pointers on Thursday afternoon as Catamount women's basketball closed the nonconference portion of its schedule with a 95-54 victory over the Montreat Cavaliers on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center. Reagan Trumm hit six shots from range and Chelsea Wooten drained five from deep in the winning effort.
 
WCU's fifth win in its last six outings gave the Catamounts 10 wins on the season, their first double-digit win total since the 2014-15 season. The game was recorded as an exhibition for NAIA opponent Montreat, who remains at 8-4.  
 
Five Catamounts finished in double figures, led by the double-double efforts of Zanoria Cruz with 19 points and 10 rebounds and a 14-point, 11-rebound performance by Tyja Beans. Trumm finished with 18 points, all from beyond the arc, with Wooten and AC Carter finishing with 17 and 16 points, respectively. All eight Catamounts that played scored points.
 
Montreat put two in double figures with Katie Alexander scoring 14, while Rymiah Sanders scored 11 to accompany a team-best eight rebounds. Team leading scorer for the season, Virginia Edmondson, was limited to six points, missing double figures for the first time this season.
 
WCU took a lead it would never relinquish on a Wooten three just thirty seconds into the game and did not look back, controlling a sizeable lead for the rest of the day. The Catamount lead stretched to as much as 14 after a Jada Burton layup with 4:05 left in the quarter before the Cavaliers began chipping away at the deficit. Montreat shrunk the lead to single digits after an 8-3 flurry before Wooten hit another shot from range and Tyja Beans finished off the first 10 minutes with a layup. 
 
Trumm hit her third of six threes in the game early in the second quarter, but both teams fell into a scoring lull until the 5:30 minute mark, when the Catamounts began a 7-2 run that became a 20-5 sprint, resulting in the 52-26 halftime score. Wooten, Trumm, Nicole Azar, and Zanoria Cruz hit 3-pointers as the Catamounts put an insurmountable distance between themselves and their opposition.  
 
The Catamounts opened the second half with possession and wasted no time adding to their lead as AC Carter took a shot from range. The graduate student's attempt missed but began a sequence of play that saw WCU corral three consecutive offensive boards before Carter capitalized on another long-range shot for the first points of the second half. The trey proved to be the difference between the two teams as Montreat opened the half with its highest-scoring quarter of the day with 17 points and the Catamounts posted their lowest of the game with a 20-point effort. Even with the comparative offensive lull, WCU went into the final quarter with a 29-point lead. 
 
With 5:06 to play and a 35-point lead late, Trumm knocked down the record-setting shot to give the Catamounts a single-game record 14 threes. Zanoria Cruz snagged her 10th board of the day with 3:30 minutes left to finish off her first career double-double and set Trumm up for her sixth individual three and the team's 15th of the day. Kennedy Hilsenroth hit a free throw just outside the one-minute mark before Montreat's Vaniyah Petty hit the final shot of the game in the 94-54 Catamount victory. 
 
Catamount Notables: 

• The Catamounts hit 15 three-pointers in the 40-point win, the most in a single game in school history … WCU's total on Thursday surpassed the program's previous record of 13 set against FIU in 2014; 
• Reagan Trumm and Chelsea Wooten combined for 11 made threes in the win with Zanoria Cruz, Nicole Azar, and AC Carter contributing two, one, and one 3-pointer, respectively; 
• Cruz led the Catamounts in scoring for the second consecutive game after dropping 19 on the Cavaliers … the fifth-year senior picked up a career-high 10 rebounds in the win as well for her first career double-double;
• A combined five Catamounts scored in double figures in the win in their final nonconference game of the regular season; 
• Jada Burton dished out 11 assists in the win, her second-consecutive game with double-digit assists ... She is only the third Catamount in school history to have two games with 10+ assists in their career. 

 
Up Next for The Catamounts: 
Southern Conference play looms as the Chattanooga Mocs come to Cullowhee on Thursday, Jan. 9. Tip-off with the reigning conference champions is set for 6 p.m. Thursday and will be broadcast through the SoCon's NexStar agreement and simulcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required). The Catamounts will close out their four-game home stretch by welcoming mountain-rival ETSU to town on Jan. 11 in a Blackout Ramsey / youth basketball day, presented by First Bank.