Macon, Ga. – Senior Zanoria Cruz scored two of her team-high 13 points in the closing seconds on Thursday night as Western Carolina women's basketball was locked in a close battle with Mercer for all four quarters before suffering the two-point 51-49 road loss in Southern Conference action at Hawkins Arena.

Cruz returned to double figures for the first time in five games since putting 10 on the board in the road contest at ETSU. AC Carter recorded her sixth double-double of the season, scoring 10 points and going for a career-high 15 rebounds. Tyja Beans finished just one point shy of her ninth double-dip of the season as the sophomore had a busy night on the glass, pulling down 13 rebounds to accompany nine points. 

Ashlee Locke led Mercer with a game-high 18 points to go along with eight rebounds. The Catamounts clamped down on Nahawa Diarra, who finished with five points and only one made field goal, but Talia Harris went for double digits in her stead, finishing with 10 points. 

Western Carolina took advantage of a slow start by the Bears in the first quarter, jumping out to a 6-0 lead before taking an early timeout. Things settled for the home team following the stoppage, as Mercer eventually tied it up 6-6 before Grace Pack gave the Catamounts an 8-6 advantage. Mercer's Talia Harris tied it up again, but WCU closed out the quarter on a 6-2 run to take a 14-10 lead into the break as Pack, Carter, and Taj Hunter built the Catamount lead.  

Momentum began swinging back in Mercer's favor in the second quarter, though neither team was particularly potent offensively as the two teams combined for only seven made field goals in the period. Locke went on a 6-0 solo run to give the Bears a 21-17 lead, but Chelsea Wooten and Jada Burton closed the gap before the end of the quarter as the two teams entered halftime knotted up at 21.

Mercer outpaced the Catamounts in the third quarter, though Beans opened the second half with a jumper to put WCU up two in the opening seconds. The Bears outscored the Catamounts 19-7 following Beans' shot, taking a 40-30 lead with 3:15 left before the fourth. Undeterred, Carter led a Catamount charge in the final minutes of the frame as the graduate student, along with buckets from Cruz and Burton trimmed the deficit to 42-38 going into the fourth quarter.  

Cruz opened the fourth with a quick four points to tie the game at 42. But, Mercer's Diarra responded with her only field goal of the night to put the Bears back in front. Mercer managed just two points over the next four minutes of game time as neither team was able to string offensive possessions together until Beans caught a critical offensive rebound off a deflection, getting the bucket and going to the free throw line to pull WCU within a point.

The Bears responded with a 4-0 sprint to be the first team to 50 points, holding a five-point lead with 2:09 to play. The Catamounts didn't respond until 45 seconds to go when Carter hit a pair of free throws to make it a one-possession game in the waning seconds. Diarra made her first free throw before missing the second before Cruz hit another shot in the final seconds of the night to make it a 51-49 game in favor of the Bears. 

Catamount Notables: 

• Western Carolina's last three league defeats have been by a combined eight points – two-point losses at home to Wofford and Thursday at Mercer, and a four-point setback at regular-season champion UNCG;
• Thursday's two-point loss locks the Catamounts into a rematch with league champions UNC Greensboro at the Southern Conference championship in Asheville, N.C. next week;
• AC Carter recorded her sixth double-double of the season and her third against a SoCon opponent this season. She went for a career-high 15 rebounds, surpassing her previous high mark of 14 against Queens;
• Zanoria Cruz went for 13 points, breaking the double-digit scoring barrier for the first time since the road matchup at ETSU. Cruz has gone for 10+ points in 13 games this season and in six SoCon games;
• Tyja Beans finished just one point shy of a double-double but picked up 13 rebounds on the road. The 13 boards are a SoCon season-high for the sophomore and is tied for her second-most in a game this season after a 13-rebound performance against Warren Wilson;  
• Jada Burton went for five rebounds, her eighth SoCon game dishing out at least five helpers this season and her sixteenth time overall. 

Up Next for The Catamounts: 

Western Carolina closes the regular season on the road at Samford on Saturday, March 1. Tip-off with the Bulldogs is set for 3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT as the Purple and Gold look to end the season with momentum before heading into the 2025 Ingles SoCon Basketball Championship next week.