Cullowhee, N.C. – Cord Stansberry eclipsed the 20-point plateau for the third time this season to lead Western Carolina on Wednesday afternoon as the Catamounts closed the calendar year and opened their Southern Conference slate with a tight, 79-74, loss to visiting Wofford inside Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center.
 
A redshirt junior guard, Stansberry finished with 20 points on five field goals, including three from beyond the arc, while also making all seven of his free throws. Graduate transfer Tidjiane Dioumassi posted his best performance in a Catamount uniform with 13 points and five rebounds while dishing out a team-best five assists. Sophomore transfer Justin Johnson finished with nine points and six rebounds off the bench for the homestanding Catamounts.

Freshman Samuel Dada posted a career-high 13 rebounds, including a team-best six offensive boards, to lead the Catamounts as he added seven points and a block to his stat line.

Wofford's Nils Machowski led all scorers on Wednesday with 27 points on 9-of-15 shooting and made four threes, while also pulling down seven rebounds. Cayden Vasko contributed with 18 points, five rebounds, and a team-best four assists as one of two in double figures. Kahmare Holmes added eight points to go along with a team-best eight rebounds, a pair of steals, and assists. Brian Sumpter led the Terriers with three blocks.  

Following a tight start, the Catamounts used a 12-4 run over four minutes to lead 14-8 with 14:59 to go in the opening half. Wofford (9-5, 1-0 SoCon) answered, though, with a 13-6 spurt over the next four minutes to flip the scoreboard to 21-20 halfway through the opening half. 

Soumaoro buried a three on the ensuing possession before the guests went on a 10-0 run over the next four minutes and change to take a 31-23 lead with 5:44 to play in the half. Stansberry scored the game's next seven points to cut the deficit to one, 31-30, before Wofford closed on an 8-3 run to take a 39-33 lead to the break. 

After both teams traded quick blows out of the halftime locker room over the opening five minutes, and the margin stayed in the single digits before Wofford pushed its lead to 11, 53-42, with 15:10 to go. The Catamounts put together their best run of the afternoon, using a 14-4 run to cut the deficit to one, 57-56, at the midway mark of the second half. 

Capitalizing on a switch to its 1-3-1 zone defense, Wofford responded with a 13-6 spurt to push the lead back to eight, 70-62. A trio of Catamounts combined to help cut the score back to three, 70-67, with 4:17 remaining.

However, the Terriers scored five of the game's next seven points to push the advantage back to six, 75-69, with 2:46 to go. Dada and Dioumassi buried back-to-back layups to again make it a one-score game. WCU was unable to get closer, though, as Wofford held WCU to just a free throw in the final 50 seconds, en route to a 79-74 victory. 

Western Carolina shot 37.5% (24-of-64) from the floor. The hosts made six 3-pointers at a 25% clip and converted 20-of-29 free throws. Wofford finished at 46.4% (26-of-56), hitting 11 threes at 37.9% and 16-of-23 at the line.

WCU controlled the glass by 12, winning the rebounding battle, 46-34. The Catamounts also held a 20-8 lead on the offensive boards. The Terriers took advantage of 14 WCU giveaways, scoring 23 points. The Purple & Gold led 36-28 in points in the paint and 24-15 in bench scoring. Wofford led 6-1 in blocks. The Catamounts had 13 assists, while Wofford had 10.

Western Carolina (4-8, 0-1 SoCon) turns the page to 2026 with a season-long three-game road swing in SoCon play beginning on Saturday, Jan. 3, with a trip to Greenville, S.C., battling chromatic rival Furman. The meeting with the Paladins is slated for a 4 p.m. start and will be shown on ESPN+(paid subscription required), with live audio from the Catamount Sports Network, and live stats available online at CatamountSports.com.

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