Johnson City, Tenn. – Three Catamounts scored in double figures on Thursday night for Western Carolina, but a late third quarter scoring spurt by the Buccaneers propelled East Tennessee State to a 10-point lead and ultimately the 77-64 Southern Conference women's basketball victory at Brooks Gym. The two squads split the regular season meetings as the Catamounts claimed the 64-60 win back on Jan. 12 in Cullowhee.
 
WCU's Grace Pack sank a pair of free throws to claw the Catamounts back to within three points, 48-45, with two minutes remaining in the third. However, ETSU scored the final seven points of the frame including five from the free throw line to take a 10-point lead into the fourth. The late frame burst handed the hosts the separation they needed as WCU fought over the final 10-minute frame, but were only able to pull to within nine as the surging Buccaneers held the Purple & Gold at bay.
 
The SoCon's leading scorer AC Carter again paced Western Carolina with 15 points, just missing a double-double with a team-best nine rebounds after playing 36 of the 40 minutes. She was followed by Tyja Beans with 13 points and six boards and Zanoria Cruz scored 10.
 
Three additional Catamounts finished just shy of the 10-point plateau as both Jada Burton and Chelsea Wooten scored nine and Pack chipped in eight points.
 
Courtney Moore led ETSU with a game-high 24 points on 7-of-14 shooting including four made 3-pointers, joined in double figures by Brecken Snotherly with 15 points. Meghan Downing controlled the glass for the Bucs with 11 rebounds. Carmen Richardson scored seven points, pulled down six rebounds, and dished out a game-high five assists.
 
Both teams opened the game rather sluggishly as the contest remained scoreless for nearly two full minutes before ETSU's Braylyn Milton got things started with a tip-in layup with 8:05 in the quarter. The Bucs built a 4-0 lead early as Meghan Downing knocked down the mid-range jumper, but Zanoria Cruz answered with a pair of free throws for WCU's first points of the night.  
 
Courtney Moore hit the first three ball of the night to take a 7-4 lead but the Catamounts responded with the next four points, briefly taking an 8-7 lead out of the media timeout as Pack took a Wooten feed for a layup. ETSU responded, however, with a seven-point sprint to go up 14-8 with two minutes remaining before the break. Chelsea Wooten snapped the scoring streak with her first long shot of the night. The Bucs (14-9, 5-3 SoCon) finished off the quarter with a layup, taking a 15-11 lead into the second quarter.  
 
With both teams fully feeling the flow of the night, the offense came alive in the second quarter as the mountain rivals combined for 41 points in the frame. Beans cut the deficit to two points right out of the break, but the Bucs continued to press with consistent production, keeping the Catamounts at arm's length. ETSU's lead blossomed to as much as seven in the period before Beans and Carter cut it back to two. Chelsea Wooten's second triple of the night made it a one-point affair, but Isabella Hunt converted a three-point play for ETSU to stretch it back to four.  
 
The Catamounts closed out the half on a 5-0 sprint, punctuated by an and-one from Cruz that tied the game, but Richardson corralled a low pass from Moore and hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to hand ETSU a 35-32 advantage into the break.  
 
Out of the locker room, Beans cut the home lead to one to open the third quarter, but the Bucs posted back-to-back buckets to take a six-point advantage. A Carter three-ball and a Jada Burton drive to the basket again made it a one-point game with four minutes showing before the Bucs offense closed out the quarter on an 11-to-2 run, taking a 10-point, 55-45 advantage into the fourth quarter. 
 
Beans again hit the first shot of the quarter for the Catamounts in the fourth to trim the deficit to eight. However, it was as close as WCU could claw the remainder of the frame as ETSU used efficient offense to retake and mostly maintain a double-digit advantage the remainder of the quarter with the home squad's lead growing to a game-high 14 with 3:00 to go on the way to the 13-point decision.
 
Catamount Notables: 

• All six Catamounts that scored in the road loss at ETSU recorded at least eight points with three finishing in double figures;
• Chelsea Wooten had a strong 3-for-4 performance from deep for her second-best 3-point shooting game of the conference season  -- she was 5-of-11 at Furman; 
• AC Carter went for 15 points, her fifth-consecutive game scoring in double-figures and her 20th of the season … She finished just one rebound shy of a double-double for the second time in three games. 

Up Next for The Catamounts: 
WCU (11-12, 1-7 SoCon) remains on the road in Tennessee in traveling to the Scenic City on Saturday (Feb. 8) to face the Chattanooga Mocs. Tip is scheduled for 2 p.m. at The McKenzie Arena. The Catamounts then returns to Cullowhee to finish off the 2025 home schedule with a pair of home tilts, hosting Upstate foes Wofford (Feb. 13, 6 p.m.) and Furman in the frontend of a WCU hoops doubleheader on Feb. 15 at 1 p.m.