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 Head Coach Kellie Harper and the Lady Catamounts tip-off the 2004-05 season Friday at Clemson. |
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Nov. 14, 2004
Cullowhee, N.C. - The Western Carolina Lady Catamounts had three players reach double figures in scoring, including the double-double performance of senior Jennifer Gardner, as they shot past the Charlotte Stars, 81-66 Sunday night in the final tune up before the start of the 2004-05 season.
Gardner finished with a team-high 15 points and 10 rebounds, including six on the offensive glass, to pace the Lady Catamounts. Junior Teywana Hardy, seeing her first live game action since January 21 of last season, tallied 13 points and five boards in the win. Also in double figures was freshman Monique Dawson with 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting.
After trailing early, Western grabbed a 19-16 lead midway through the first half behind Gardner's early eight points. The Stars battled back, however, keeping tabs on the Lady Cats and pulling to within one at 25-24 with seven and a half minutes remaining in the first half. The Lady Catamounts answered with a 10-5 spurt, taking their largest lead of the first stanza at 35-29.
The Charlotte Stars concluded the half with a run of their own, finishing the half with a 10-3 run, including a buzzer-beating jumper by Nikki Herron to hold a one-point, 39-38 lead at the half.
Out of the break, the Stars matched their largest lead of the night of three points on a Kissa Clyburn jumper to inch ahead 41-38. Western countered with a 13-2 run to reclaim the lead for good at the 18:23 mark and extend that advantage to eight within four minutes later. The Lady Catamounts would see their lead dwindle to as low as five with just under 10 to play, but were able to maintain and grow the lead as high as 18 on two occasions to finish off the game.
Western shot a sizzling 51.4 percent from the field in the second half, coupled with the 34.4 from the first to finish at 453.5 percent for the game. The Lady Cats' defense held the Stars to 29.4 percent in the second after giving up 59 percent in the first.
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