Western Carolina women win, men lose in Asheville twin bill

Western Carolina and UNC-Asheville split a doubleheader in he Mountain Hoops Classic held Monday at the Asheville Civic Center.

UNC-A held off a Catamount rally to take a 77-72 victory in the men's game laving both teams 2-2.

The Lady Cats improved to 4-1 with a 71-55 win. Although they are just 1-2, the Lady Bulldogs have already matched their victory total from last season.

In the men's game, the Bulldogs relied on a balanced scoring attack in front of 2,250 fans. Andre Smith led the way with 17 points and six assists while Ben McGonagil had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Alex Kragel also scored 14 points, and Joseph Barber had 11.

UNC led 49-32 on McGonagil's tip-in at the 16:20 mark. The margin was 68-56 after Smith's jumper with 5:04 on the clock.

Martin almost single-handedly brought the Cats back with nine straight points in just over a minute. He hit three free throws then drained consecutive three-pointers narrowing the gap to 68-65 at the 3:36 mark.

Western didn't hit another field goal until just 26 seconds remained. Meanwhile, Smith was making five of six free throws to seal the win.

WCU led twice by two points in the early going as both teams got off to slow starts.

The game was tied 20-20 on Alex Osipovitch's jumper with 5:34 to go in the first half.

Bryan McCullough's jumper put the Bulldogs ahead to stay, 22-20, with 5:13 on the clock.

The Bulldogs closed the half on a 9-2 run, the last five by Alex Kragel, for a 36-25 lead at intermission.

The Bulldogs enjoyed a 44-38 rebounding edge while both teams committed 12 turnovers.

Western's Kori Hatcher handed out four assists.

Completing the WCU scoring were Osipovitch with eight, Rans Brempong with six, L.T. Lockett with three, and Terrence Woodyard, Jared Outing and David Berghoefer all with two.

In the women's game, Tiffany Hamm scored 16 points for the Lady Cats. Jennifer Gardner contributed 12 points and eight boards.

UNC-A was led by Kristal Hood with 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Tonisha Jackson added 13 points.

The Lady Cats asserted their dominance early with an 18-1 run. Ki-Ki Glass hit a pair of three-pointers in the spurt while Hamm and Gardner scored four apiece for an 18-3 lead with 12:41 on the clock. The margin reached 25-7 on Marsha McGillivary's trey at the 10:36 mark.

The Lady Bulldogs rallied with 11 unanswered points, the last four by Shantell Waiters, cutting the gap to 25-18 with 6:48 on the clock.

Gardner scored four of the next six points as Western recovered to lead 37-25 at intermission.

Western appeared to have the game in hand with a 60-46 advantage on two Yoneko Allen free throws at the 5:26 mark.

Jackson's six points sparked a 9-1 run bringing the Lady Bulldogs within 61-55 with 2:04 to play.

WCU scored the game's final 10 points, including six by Hamm, to seal the win.

The Lady Cats made 47.3 percent of their field goal tries while UNC-A shot 35.1 percent from the floor.

The Lady Bulldogs had a 38-37 rebounding edge but turned the ball over 22 times to Western's 18.

Allen dished our four assists.

Completing the WCU scoring were Allen and Glass with nine each, Melissa Ervin with seven, Kala Greene with six, McGillivary with five, Janetta Heggins with three, and Skaketia Barnes and Christy Blackwell with two apiece.

WCU's men were scheduled to return home Wednesday for a 7 p.m. game against Reinhardt. Results were not known at Herald press time. After Saturday's 7 p.m. game at Liberty, Western will be back at the Ramsey Center next Tuesday to meet North Greenville at 7 p.m.

The Lady Cats will face Radford at home at noon today (Thursday) and go to Savannah State for a 6 p.m. contest Monday.

Back to Sports: 12/06/02.