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 Junior Heather Swayne led the Lady Catamounts with 11 points in the win over Brevard. |
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Nov. 8, 2008
PODCAST - HARPER POST GAME COMMENTS (BREVARD)
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Western Carolina women's basketball defeated the Brevard College Tornados 75-45 in the Lady Catamounts lone exhibition game to tip-off the 2008-09 season in the Ramsey Center Saturday night.
Junior guard Heather Swayne came off the bench and scored 11 points connecting on 5-of-9 from the field and also had three rebounds and two steals. Fellow junior Kristen Feemster attacked the boards, leading the club with 10 rebounds. All 12 players saw time on the court for Western Carolina and everyone got in the scoring column.
"Heather has really improved her game, she was always a good shooter, but she is becoming an all-around player," said Head Coach Kellie Harper. "We had set minutes for everyone in the game and we stuck to the game plan - allowing everyone a chance to see time on the court."
It was also the first time senior center Brooke Johnson donned a Western Carolina uniform and logged minutes for the Lady Catamounts since an injury sidelined her on December 20, 2007. The Seymour, Tennessee native had four points and two rebounds in 17 minutes of action.
Lady Catamount fans also saw the first action by transfer Jessica Jackson who sat out last season after transferring from South Florida. The junior point guard introduced herself to the Western Carolina faithful two minutes into the game draining a three-pointer from the top of the key to give Western Carolina an early 5-0 advantage.
"Jessica was so excited to put on the uniform and play tonight," Harper said. "She and the rest of the team and coaching staff have been waiting a year for this."
Western Carolina had just 12 turnovers in the contest and forced Brevard to give up the ball 26 times. The Lady Catamounts, however, struggled at the free throw line connecting on just 10-of-21 from the charity stripe.
"I think that turnover mark was one of the lowest for a team I have coached here at Western Carolina," Harper admitted. "This is and will be a better free throw shooting team and that is something we will work on in the next week."
It was just a 10 point difference after the first 20 minutes of the contest as the Lady Catamounts had a 34-24 lead heading into the locker room. Western Carolina had a 15 point lead, 34-19, with five minutes left in the half but Brevard went on a 5-0 run to close out the half and narrow the Lady Catamount advantage.
It was a different story in the second half. After Western Carolina settled down, the Lady Catamounts scored 41 points in the second half and allowed just 21 points from Brevard. Western Carolina also shot 46.2 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes as the Tornados shot just 22.6 percent.
Overall the club had 55 rebounds in the game with 20 of them coming from the offensive side of the glass. Brevard had 37 boards and just eight of them were offensive.
Western Carolina officially opens the season November 14 in the first round of the Preseason WNIT at 7 p.m. against No. 4 North Carolina.
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