Women's Basketball Southern Conference

Women's Basketball Capsules for November 29

WCU Women's Basketball Comes From Behind to Defeat Wake forest, 72-64

Cullowhee, N.C. - Sophomore Tiffany Hamm scored a season-high 21 points and senior Laura Echols added 20 to lead Western Carolina to a 72-64 come-from-behind victory over Wake Forest in women's basketball action Thursday night at the Ramsey Activity Center.

Western (4-1) kept the game close most of the first half until Wake Forest (2-3) went on a 13-8 run and took a 35-27 lead at the halftime. Both teams shot 46 percent from the field over the first 20 minutes. However, the Demon Deacons drained 3-of-6 from 3-point range, while
Western only connected on 1-of-3.

Wake Forest kept its lead until Catamount sophomore Yoneko Allen made 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions to give Western a five point lead, 54-49, at the 7:37 mark of the second half. The Deacons answered with a free throw, but would not get any closer the remainder of the contest.

Hamm made 9-of-11 free throws in the second half, including 6-of-6 inside the final minute, to seal the victory. She was also 2-of-2 from long range, while adding eight rebounds. Echols was 7-of-12 from the floor and 5-for-6 from the line in scoring her 20 points. Her biggest
shot may have been a 3-pointer on an inbounds pass as the 30-second shot clock expired late in the second half. Allen added 13 points on the night.

Wake Forest was paced by Tonia Brown and Erin Ferrell, each scoring 16 points. Brown was 7-of-12 from the floor with a 3-pointer and a free throw, while Ferrell was 7-of-10 with a 3-pointer and a free throw. LaChina Robinson pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end.

The Catamounts only missed nine second-half shots (13-of-22) and shot a season-high 52.1 percent from the floor for the game. Western also made 16-of-22 free throws, including 14-of-17 in the second half. Wake Forest was only 1-of-4 from the line in the second half and 3-of-8 for the game.

With the win, Western ends a three-game losing streak to the Deacons and improves its all-time record versus WFU to 11-7. The Catamounts additionally improve to 12-4 in home openers since the Ramsey Activity Center was opened in the 1986-87 season.

Western Carolina will play the second of its current three-game homestand with a Saturday (Dec. 1) men's and women's doubleheader versus region rival UNC Asheville in the second annual Asheville Citizen-Times Mountain Hoops Classic. The women's game with the Bulldogs is set for 1:00 p.m., in the RAC, while the men's game is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. Wake Forest will return to action on Wednesday (Dec. 5) with a road game at conference foe and 24th-ranked North Carolina.


FURMAN FALLS BY FOUR TO PANTHERS OF HIGH POINT

GREENVILLE, South Carolina -- Five Furman players posted double digit scoring Thursday night at Timmons Arena, but it was not enough to lift the Lady Paladin basketball team over High Point, as the visiting Panthers took the 84-80 decision.

Furman took its only lead of the game at the 16:59 mark of the first half, when a Mary Brock jumper put the Lady Paladins up 8-7. Less than a minute later a free throw by Deshara Shealey made it 9-7, but High Point tied the game 9-9 on a Stephanie Scott layup at 16:14. From then on it was all Panthers, as HPU stretched its advantage to 11, 41-30, at the halftime
break.

Furman outscored the Panthers 10-2 to start the second half and pulled to within three at 17:24 and again at 16:46. High Point went on a 14-3 run to hold a 13-point lead, 59-46 at the 12:27 mark, but a determined Furman team staged a comeback that tied the game at 73 with 4:09 left to play. The Panthers' Misty Brockman broke the tie on a pair of made free throws, but Furman evened the score at 75 on an Althea Bufford layup and again at 78 on an Orion Wake free throw.

In the final 1:40 the Panthers connected on all four free throw attempts and Narelle Henry hit a jumper with the game tied at 80 to give the Panthers the four-point victory.

High Point was led on the night by Shannon O'Brien, who scored a career-high 20 points, and Misty Brockman who added 18 points and a team-high eight rebounds and eight assists. Narelle Henry added 16 points, while Mary Brewer contributed 15 and Stephanie Scott totaled 11.

The Lady Paladins were paced by freshman Monica Pope's 20 points, while Althea Bufford claimed her first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Orion Wake added 15 points, Kim Lawrence tallied 12, and Mary Brock contributed 10.

With the win, the Panthers improved to 4-2 on the year, while Furman fell to 2-3. The Lady Paladins will play host to the Tigers of Clemson Sunday, December 2, at 3 p.m.