Western Carolina 71, Appalachian State 63BOONE, N.C. – Western Carolina women’s basketball (3-3, 1-0 SoCon) opened Southern Conference play in dramatic fashion shocking Appalachian State (1-4, 0-1 SoCon) 71-63 Tuesday in the Holmes Center, giving the Catamounts the early lead in the SoCon race.
Four players scored in double figures led by junior guard Makensey Campbell who had 18 points in the contest, just two points off tying her career-high of 20. Justin Taylor added 15 points while Lindsay Simpson and Rena Wakama each had 14.
The victory snaps a Western Carolina nine-game losing streak to Appalachian State dating back to Feb. 7, 2009 when the Catamounts defeated the Mountaineers 75-50 in Cullowhee. The win also extends Western Carolina’s winning streak to three, this season, and puts the team at .500.
Though Appalachian State would enjoy a couple of mini runs to make the game interesting, the Catamount victory really was never in doubt as the intensity shone on each of the players. Western Carolina had an answer for all of the Mountaineer’s runs, and by the end of the second half, put the game in overdrive to secure the win.
Western Carolina built a 10-point, 41-31 lead, with 2:15 left in the first half. Appalachian State scored six unanswered points to only trail by four, 41-37, at the half.
The Mountaineers continued their momentum swing to open the second half. Just two minutes into the final 20 minutes of the contest, Appalachian State scored two quick buckets to tie the game at 41. That put the ASU scoring advantage to 10 straight points dating back to the first half.
Campbell put Western Carolina back on top draining one of her four three pointers to give WCU a 44-41 lead. Appalachian State came back again with six unanswered points to take a 47-44 advantage. The Mountaineer lead didn’t faze the Catamounts as the team kept plugging away and cut the ASU lead to one off a pair of Wakama free throws.
A three-pointer by Taylor, with 14:23 remaining, returned the lead to Western Carolina, 48-47, and the Catamounts never trailed in the game again. Western Carolina built a seven point lead three times in the second half, with the last time 65-58 with 3:27 remaining.
Appalachian State attempted one last comeback in the final three minutes cutting Western Carolina’s lead to two after Michelle Taylor hit one of two free throws to make the score 65-63 with 2:01 remaining.
Junior guard Ali Lane pushed the Catamount lead back to four, 67-63, when she answered with a lay-up. After a missed field goal by the Mountaineers, WCU came back down the court and Lane hit 1-of-2 free throws, after being fouled, to push the score to 68-63.
Western Carolina was 3-of-4 from the free throw line, including 2-of-2 from Taylor, in the final 16 seconds to ice the game.
The Catamounts connected on a season-high 11 three-pointers, which was a difference maker in the game. Appalachian State had just two treys in the game.
NC State 86, Davidson 63RALEIGH, N.C. — For the third time this year Davidson got a pair of 20-point scorers, but it could not overcome a big run by N.C. State and fell 86-63 as the Wildcats finished out their four-game road trip Tuesday evening at historic Reynolds Coliseum in women’s basketball.
Davidson (2-5) saw the Wolfpack use a 21-5 run that spanned to the end of the first half and into the start of the second to pull away.
The Wildcats had closed to within one, 31-30, on nine straight points from Laura Murray with under five to go in the first half. But N.C. State answered with its big run to improve to 6-0.
Murray and Hannah Early went off for 21 points each, the third time this year the duo have both scored 20 points in a game. Early finished 5-of-6 from behind the arc and nailed 8-of-11 shots overall.
N.C. State put five players in double figures as Kody Burke led the way with 17 points, 10 of which came in the second half. Joining her were Miah Spencer (14), Markeisha Gatling (12), Len’Nique Brown (12) and Krystal Brown (10).
The Wolfpack shot 50.8 percent for the game, including 53.3 percent in the first half. They scored 42 points in the paint and got 35 from their bench.
N.C. State raced out to a 9-2 advantage early and never trailed, but Early caught fire and kept the Wildcats close throughout the first half. The junior hit her first five shots, including four from downtown with her final triple bringing the ‘Cats to within five, 26-21, with 7:22 left in the half.
Murray picked up Early after she cooled off a few minutes later, rolling off nine straight points, including a driving layin that made it 31-30 with 4:54 on the clock.
The Wolfpack responded, finishing the half on a 14-3 run, getting half of those points at the charity stripe, for a 45-33 lead at the break.
Davidson got as close as 65-51 in the second half on another Early three-ball, but never got any closer, trailing by as many as 26.