Cullowhee, N.C. – Ally Hollifield recorded her fifth straight double-digit scoring game, pacing four Catamounts in double figures with a 15-point output as the Western Carolina women's basketball team fell 73-62 Saturday afternoon to the Samford Bulldogs in Southern Conference action on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center.
Hollifield reached double-digit scoring for the 13th time this season with the team-best 15 and added a team-high six rebounds in the loss. She also dished out two assists and had a pair of steals. Ary Dizon finished with 12, Betsey Burnett had 11, and Taj Hunter rounded out the Catamounts double figures with 10 points. Freshman Tina Bowers recorded her first career SoCon start, going for nine points, five rebounds, and a team-high three assists.
A 23-point effort by freshman Kaylee Yarbrough led Samford, as she finished 7-of-14 from the floor and hit all eight free throws. Francie Morris was the only other Bulldog to reach double figures, netting 13 points and six rebounds, while post Emily Snoddy led the team with seven boards.
WCU (3-13, SoCon 0-2) plays its first road conference game of the season as the Catamounts face Wofford (7-9, SoCon 1-1) on Thursday, Jan. 15. Samford (8-11, SoCon 1-1) faces the Mercer Bears (11-6, SoCon 1-1) on Jan. 17 as the Bulldogs have the midweek off.
How it Happened:
The Bulldogs struck first in the opening seconds of the game, as Kaylee Yarbrough fought inside for the first points of the game. The Catamounts responded powerfully, going on an 11-0 run – with Tina Bowers contributing five points on her own – to take an 11-2 lead, forcing a Samford timeout.
Yarbrough and Francie Morris worked to chip away at WCU's lead, scoring all 13 Bulldog points in the first frame, but the Catamounts held onto an 18-13 lead going into the second quarter.
After a 1-for-7 start from beyond the arc for the Bulldogs, Samford received a more efficient start in the second quarter, connecting on two of their three deep shots, with Francie Morris cutting WCU's advantage to one possession with 4:41 before half. The final minutes of the break saw four ties and three lead changes as the Catamounts and Bulldogs battled down the stretch, though Samford carried the 35-34 advantage into the break.
Following a half-opening score by Samford, Ary Dizon pulled the Catamounts back within a point early in the frame, but the Bulldogs consistently built their lead throughout the third. A 13-0 Samford run gave the Bulldogs a 54-41 lead before shots by Hollifield and Bowers made it a nine-point game going into the final 10 minutes.
Samford's lead grew to as much as 17 in the fourth quarter, before the Catamounts mounted a comeback attempt sparked by back-to-back made threes by Betsey Burnett and Hollifield. WCU fired back with a 12-4 run, cutting the deficit to nine points with 2:29 to go. The Bulldogs answered, though, with five consecutive points in the final minute before Grace Pack hit a 3-pointer as Samford took the 73-62 win.
By the Numbers:
The Catamounts experienced a 3-point drought throughout much of the game on Saturday, going 0-for-10 from range through the first three quarters of play. Betsey Burnett connected on WCU's first 3-pointer of the game with 5:17 to play.
Samford, which averaged over nine made 3-pointers on nearly 30 attempts per game entering the contest, also struggled to produce consistent opportunities for the three-ball, as the Catamounts held the Bulldogs to their third-fewest 3-point shots of the season. However, the Bulldogs strung together efficient 2-of-3 and 3-of-5 performances in the middle half of the game to offset their struggles.
Turnovers were a critical piece of the game as well, with the Catamounts committing 20 and the Bulldogs netting 20 points off those miscues. Samford committed 15, and the Catamounts capitalized for 12 points.
Up Next for The Catamounts:
The Catamounts hit the road for the first time in the conference slate as they swing to the Palmetto State to face Wofford and Furman. Tip in Spartanburg with the Terriers is set for 6:00 p.m. on Jan. 15, with Jan. 17's game against Furman scheduled for a 2 p.m. start.
WCU returns home on Jan. 22 to host the ETSU Bucs for the annual Blackout game.
