March 4, 2006

Final Stats

North Charleston, S.C. - Down by three in the waning minutes, Western Carolina sophomore Monique Dawson nailed a 3-pointer to knot the game at 71 with two minutes to play. Her classmate, Chevon Keith, gave the Lady Catamounts a two-point, 73-71, advantage with a jumper in the lane, but the top-seeded Chattanooga Lady Mocs drained a 3-pointer with 46.8 seconds remaining to take the lead for good, securing the 77-73 win with three free throws inside the closing seconds to advance to the Southern Conference Women's Basketball Championship game.

The loss concludes Western's season at 9-20 and kept the Lady Catamounts from making a program-best, third-consecutive visit to championship Sunday. Chattanooga (26-3) extended the nation's longest winning streak to 25 games and will face No. 2 UNC Greensboro in the championship game as the Spartans disposed of the Davidson Wildcats, 69-58, in the second semifinal match-up on Saturday night.

"I'm disappointed we were not able to come up with the win tonight, but I am extremely proud of the way these ladies played," said WCU head coach Kellie Harper, who suffered her first loss in the Southern Conference tournament. "We did not get down after being down by 10 at halftime and for that I am extremely proud. I have not had a prouder moment with this team this season."

Western finished with four players in double figures, led by 17 from Dawson including a 3-of-7 showing from beyond the 3-point arc. Freshman Amelia Miller scored a career-high 14 points off the bench for the Lady Catamounts, with sophomores Jessika Johnson and Chevon Keith scoring 12 and 10, respectively. Miller added a career-best two blocked shots while Keith tied freshman Kendra Eaton for a team-high seven rebounds to accompany her eight points

Using back-to-back 3-pointers to open the first half, the Lady Mocs exploded out of the gates, racing to a 10-2 lead after the first two minutes, scoring on their first six straight possessions. Trailing 15-4 with 17:29 left the Lady Catamounts went on a 14-6 run, capped off by a trey from Dawson, who had five points during the stretch, to cut the deficit to three, 21-18 with 11:51 to go in the half.

But UTC responded with a 13-3 run, keyed by a 3-pointer from sophomore Brooke Hand at 11:36 to take a 34-21 advantage with 6:29 showing on the clock before intermission. Both teams traded baskets the rest of the half with Chattanooga extending its lead to 12 at one point before settling on the 10-point, 42-32, lead at halftime.

Out of the locker room, Western opened the second half with a 22-9 run, erasing the 10-point deficit, to take the three-point, 54-51 lead with 11:47 left in the game. The Lady Mocs countered, though, with a 10-2 run which included scoring eight straight to take a 61-56 lead at the 8:38 mark.

Sophomore Chevon Keith scored 10 points and added seven rebounds in Saturday's loss.

Western Carolina stormed back and tied the contest at 71-71 with just over two minutes in regulation off Dawson's trifecta and Keith pushed WCU ahead by two, 73-71. On the ensuing possession, the Lady Mocs pounded the ball inside, causing the Lady Catamount defense to sag in to help against sophomore Alex Anderson. But the Stone Mountain, Ga., native found her open classmate, Laura Hall, who drained a 3-pointer to put UTC ahead for good, 74-73. WCU could not convert its final two possessions into points, missing two shots from behind the arc and the Lady Mocs went 3-for-4 from the free-throw line the last minute to increase their lead to the final margin of four, 77-73.

After struggling in the beginning of the second half the Lady Mocs finished the final 20 minutes shooting 40.7 percent to finish the game with a 37.9 percentage from the field. Western Carolina shot 38.9 from the field Chattanooga edged WCU 49-47 in rebounds. The Lady Catamounts went 12-for-20 from the free throw line, while the Lady Mocs went 21-of-26.

Chattanooga was led by senior Tiffani Roberson with 26 points and 15 rebounds, posting her ninth career double-double in the first half. Senior Katasha Brown finished with 12 points, but was held to just a deuce on the second half, while the third UTC fourth-year player, Nicole Mattison, posted her third career double-double and first of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Mattison, who also notched nine assists, fell one dime short of a triple-double in the contest.

After opening the season with the worst start in school history at 0-9, Western Carolina won four of its last six games to finish at 9-20, earning a first round bye in the SoCon tournament as the fifth seed.

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