WCU women lose twice at home; remain undefeated in road games

Tiffany Hamm scored 23 points and had eight rebounds for Western Carolina in last week's game with Furman. The Lady Cats nearly upset the defending Southern Conference Tournament champions but lost in overtime 79-72

The Lady Cats (2-2) played at home under Coach Beth Dunkenberger for the first time Nov. 21 and nearly upset defending Southern Conference Tournament champion Furman. They led the majority of the game but were outscored 17-10 in overtime and lost 79-72.

"We did some good things tonight," Dunkenberger said. "We played hard enough to win, had some good shots and played good defense."

The Lady Cats were led by Tiffany Hamm with 23 points and eight rebounds. Laura Echols added 17 points while April Fleck had 11 points and seven rebounds.

"Tiffany Hamm and Laura Echols did a good job inside, and Christy Blackwell did a good job running the offense," Dunkenberger said.Blackwell finished with seven points, three rebounds, and a pair of assists.

WCU led by as many as eight on two occasions in the first half, and extended that lead to 10 in the second stanza. However, Furman, led by Mary Brock with 23 points and Tara Charles with 19, made a charge and took the lead for the first time with 4:02 remaining.

After that, it was a back and forth battle. Echols made one of two free throws to tie the game in the final seconds and send it into overtime.

Completing the WCU scoring were Marsha McGillivary with eight, Janetta Heggins with four and Kris Kent with two.

Western had five players score in double figures Saturday in a 69-51 victory at Coastal Carolina. Fleck led the way with 15 followed by Echols with 14, Hamm with 12, McGillivary with 11 and Heggins with 10.

Coastal scored the first four points and held onto the lead until Echols' jumper tied it 6-6 with 15:24 remaining in the first half. Ahead 18-16 with 8:25 on the clock, WCU closed the half with an 18-7 run to open a 36-23 lead at the break.

The Lady Cats led by as many as 27 points in the second half.

Heggins pulled down eight rebounds leading Western to a 41-31 advantage on the glass. Blackwell handed out 10 assists to go with seven points and four steals.

Brooke Weisbrod paced Coastal with 13 points. Crystal Brown posted 11 points and eight rebounds. Alison Bach scored 10 points.

Western had a hot shooting night connecting on 56.4 percent of its field goal ties to 28.6 percent by the Lady Chanticleers. The Lady Cats committed 23 turnovers, and Coastal had 16. Western returned home Monday and dropped an 83-74 decision to Campbell. April Cromartie and Sara Moore both scored 20 points to pace the Lady Camels. They had 12 and eight rebounds, respectively. Crystal Clary netted 15 points, and Janice Washington added 12.

WCU was led by Echols with 22 points and eight boards. Fleck, who was honored in pre-game ceremonies for joining the 1,000-point club, added 12 points along with five steals. McGillivary and Heggins both tallied 11 points.

The Lady Cats were held scoreless the first four minutes and trailed 7-0. They rallied to tie the game at 17 midway through the first half. Campbell proceeded to take a 10-point lead, which WCU chiseled away to 37-36 at the break.

In the second half, the Lady Cats took the lead by three early on, but the combination of cold shooting from the field and a red-hot Lady Camel team helped CU build a 16-point advantage at the 12-minute mark.

Campbell hit 49.3 percent of its field goal tries, including 51.4 percent in the second half. WCU finished at 45.6 percent. Both teams were hurt by turnovers as the Lady Camels had 29 and Western had 22.

Blackwell handed out nine assists.

Completing the Lady Cat scoring were Hamm with nine, Kent with six and Blackwell with three.

Western was scheduled to travel to Tennessee State for a 7 p.m. game Wednesday. Results were not known at Herald press time. The team will play Friday and Saturday in the Beach Blast at UNC-Wilmington before going to Elon next Wednesday.

Back to Sports: 11/30/00.