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WCU women hold off late Lady Eagles’ rally
Western Carolina let a 15-point lead get away but recovered to claim a 73-68 Southern Conference women’s basketball victory on Jan. 15 at Georgia Southern.
Ashley Pellom scored 15 points for the Lady Cats. She was joined in double figures by Brooke Johnson with 13, Monique Dawson with 12 and Lauren Powell with 10.
Dawson, who was named conference player of the week, and Chevon Keith both had seven rebounds helping WCU dominate the boards 44-32.
GSU’s Tiffany Brown was the game’s top scorer with 19. Chequilla Jessie followed with 16, and Ashley Melson had 15.
Concella Henry claimed eight rebounds for the Lady Eagles.
WCU led 56-41 on Pellom’s three-pointer at the 9:55 mark.
GSU slowly narrowed the gap then ran off eight straight points to take the lead. Brown was fouled while shooting a trey and made all three free throws. Carolyn Whitney converted a three-point play, and Jessie’s layup capped the spurt putting her team ahead 65-64 with 2:35 on the clock.
Brooke Johnson and Jessika Johnson both hit two free throws putting Western up 68-65 at the 1:32 mark.
Brown’s three-pointer produced a 68-68 tie with 1:11 to play.
The Lady Cats regained the lead, 70-68, on Pellom’s jumper with 45 seconds left. She made three of four free throws in the last 17 seconds to seal the win.
The Lady Cats led almost the entire first half and opened a 37-27 margin at intermission by scoring the final seven points. Powell had five in the span.
Western shot 41.8 percent from the floor compared to GSU’s 38.7 percent.
The Lady Cats were hurt by 23 turnovers, and Georgia Southern had 16.
Completing the WCU scoring were Keith with nine, Jessika Johnson and Lynsie Lamitie with five apiece, and Kendra Eaton with four.
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