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WCU women divide pair of league games
Western Carolina's women's basketball team split a pair of road games last week.
Davidson edged the Lady Cats (9-11, 5-8) 65-63 on Jan. 25, but WCU bounced back to down College of Charleston 69-59 Saturday.
Davidson
Jessica Mitchell scored her only two points of the game with half a second remaining as Davidson pulled out a 65-63 win. Mitchell was fouled as she grabbed an offensive rebound after missing a shot.
The Lady Cats had rallied from a six-point deficit in the final two minutes for a 63-63 tie on Ashley Pellom's jumper with 26 seconds to go.
The Lady Wildcats were led by Emily Callahan with 17 points. Janell Crayton added 14, and Tia Washington had 10.
Lori Tanner paced Western with 16 points. Shaketia Barnes followed with 14, and Jennifer Gardner had 10.
After trailing throughout the first half, Davidson went ahead with 10 straight points for a 50-42 advantage on two free throws by Callahan at the 12:16 mark.
The Lady Wildcats never trailed again although WCU tied the game in the closing seconds.
Western got off to a quick start and led 10-0 in the game's first two and a half minutes. Tanner had six of those points.
The game's biggest margin was 15-4 on Sigita Maleraite's three-pointer with 15:42 on the clock.
Davidson slowly began to chip away, and Brynn Kelly's jumper in the closing seconds trimmed the gap to 34-33 at intermission.
Callahan's eight rebounds helped Davidson to a 46-35 advantage of the boards. Gardner led WCU with seven.
The rebounding edge helped the Lady Wildcats take 13 more shots. That allowed them to overcome 35.7 percent field goal shooting while Western made 43.9 percent of its attempts.
The Lady Cats committed 18 turnovers, and Davidson had 17.
Completing the WCU scoring were Maleraite and Teyawna Hardy with seven apiece, Pellom with four, Ki-Ki Glass and Chevon Keith with two apiece and Monique Dawson with one.
Charleston
Gardner scored 25 points and pulled down 18 rebounds in the 69-59 victory over Charleston. Barnes added 11 points while Tanner and Maleraite both had 10.
Erica Irick scored 16 for the Lady Cougars. Marketta Talley and Patrice Bryant netted 10 apiece.
WCU took control in the first half with 20 unanswered points, including six by Tanner. Pellom had the last four of those points for a 31-12 lead at the 6:53 mark.
Jennifer Manard's two three-pointers sparked a 14-2 Charleston run cutting the gap to 33-26 with 1:24 on the clock.
Western led 37-27 at intermission.
The second half began with a pair of streaks. WCU scored the first 11 points, including six by Gardner, for a 48-27 lead with 16:44 to play.
The Lady Cougars turned things around with 15 unanswered points, including five by Irick, narrowing the gap to 48-42 at the 13:04 mark.
Gardner ended the drought with a layup, Maleraite followed with a three-pointer and WCU held a working margin the rest of the game.
Western shot 37.5 percent from the floor, and held the Lady Cougars to 29.9 percent.
WCU dominated the boards 53-30. Melissa Chambers topped Charleston with eight.
The Lady Cats were hurt by 28 turnovers while the Lady Cougars had 15.
Completing the WCU scoring were Pellom with nine and Glass with four.
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