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 Western will honor its two seniors -- Erin May (32) and Lynsie Lamitie (55) on Saturday in a pre-game ceremony. |
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Feb. 23, 2007
Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina will strive for at least a share of its first-ever Southern Conference regular season championship and a number one seed in next week's SoCon Tournament when it hosts the UNC Greensboro Spartans at 4:00 pm on Saturday afternoon in the Ramsey Center.
Currently tied atop the SoCon standings with Chattanooga, the Lady Catamounts can assure itself at worst a share of the school's first regular season women's basketball title with a win over UNC Greensboro, a team it downed by one, 53-52, on the road back in late December. A WCU victory coupled with a Wofford win over the Lady Mocs would give the Lady Catamounts the title out right. Either way, a Western win would hand it the number one seed in the post-season tournament and would all but lock the Catamounts into post-season play.
This season has already been a very successful one for Western, with accolades including an in-season tournament championship at the Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational and two SoCon Player of the Week honors. The Lady Catamounts have claimed 20 wins for just the third time in school history -- and just the second time since making the move to NCAA Division I. A regular season championship in front of a huge home crowd adding another jewel in the crown.
On the heels of one of the most raucous crowds in recent Ramsey Center memory last Monday (Feb. 19) night in the men's game against Appalachian State, WCU head coach Kellie Harper is hoping that the energy created this season will spill over in the final regular season home basketball game of the year.
"Last Monday night's crowd was simply awesome. I hope we have that same energy and same push from our fans this Saturday afternoon," said Harper. "We have had great attendance this year, breaking the school's home attendance record twice. I would love to break it a third time."
In addition to the hoopla surrounding the SoCon standings, Western will also pause to honor its two members of the 2007 senior class. Four-year letter winner, Erin May, and Lynsie Lamitie, who transferred to WCU from Gadsden State prior to last season, will be recognized in a pre-game ceremony for their accomplishments and contributions to the Lady Catamount basketball tradition.
Saturday's game will also be broadcast on the Catamount Sports Network and can be heard locally in Western North Carolina on WWCU-FM, Power 90dot5 or online ONLY at www.CatamountSports.com. Air time on Saturday is 3:45 pm, with tip-off scheduled for 4:00 pm.
WESTERN CAROLINA VS. UNC GRENSBORO GAME NOTES:
THE SERIES: With a win today - which would be the WCU's second-straight and complete the season sweep of the Spartans - Western Carolina can tie the all-time series with UNC Greensboro, currently trailing by one game, 22-23 ... After winning back-to-back meetings in Cullowhee in the 2002 and 2003 seasons, WCU has dropped three of the last four meetings with UNC Greensboro in Cullowhee ... UNCG head coach Lynne Agee is 17-7 versus WCU all-time dating back to 1984 while Western head coach, Kellie Harper, is 2-3 versus the Spartans over the past two seasons.
A WESTERN WIN VS UNC GREENSBORO WOULD:
*Make Western 21-8 overall and 15-3 in the SoCon ... the 21 wins would tie for the most victories in a single-season in school history, with the 15 SoCon wins also marking a WCU-record;
*Assure Western at least a share of its first-ever Southern Conference regular season championship ... A WCU win coupled with a Chattanooga loss at home against Wofford would give the Lady Catamounts the regular season title out right;
*Give Western Carolina the number one seed in next week's Southern Conference Women's Basketball Championships in Charleston, S.C. ... the number one seed would be WCU's highest seed all-time in the annual event (WCU was #2 seed back in the 2002-03 season after winning 21 regular season games, 14 in league play).
SOUTHERN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT TICKETS: The 2007 Southern Conference Men and Women's Basketball Championships get underway with women's action on Tuesday (Feb. 27) and a full compliment of men's and women's action on Wednesday (Feb. 28) ... the WCU men will either be the number six or seven seed, depending upon what occurs in the Chattanooga-UNC Greensboro game at the McKenzie Arena (a UTC loss would make WCU #6 seed and the Catamounts would play the No. 11 seed in the final game on Wed., approx. 8:30 pm; a UTC win would drop Western to #7 and the Cats would face the No. 10 seed at around 5:00 pm on Wed.) ... the Lady Cats are assured to be either a number one or two seed, playing either at 10:00 am (#2 seed) or just after 12:00 pm (#1 seed) on Wednesday morning ... the WCU Athletic Ticket Office has a limited number of tournament tickets available through Monday (Feb. 26) - after Monday, fans will have to contact the North Charleston Coliseum for tickets.
SCOUTING the UNC GREENSBORO SPARTANS: UNCG comes to Cullowhee riding a six-game winning streak (longest active streak in the SoCon) ... the SoCon preseason favorite has also been victorious in eight of its last nine outings ... the Spartans are unbeaten in the month of February ... UNCG is led by Jasmine Byrd with 15.4 points per game with KaLeah Latham averaging 9.9 points and a team-best 7.4 rebounds per game ... Junior Kristen Boone, who is the school's all-time leader in steals (309 career) is averaging 10.2 ppg and 3.1 steals per game.
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