Western women drop league opener; take victories from G-W and Radford

The Lady Cats (7-2) picked up non-conference wins over Gardner-Webb and Radford during the week.

Kim Lawrence scored 16 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to lead the Lady Paladins to the win. Also scoring in double figures were Orion Wake with 12 points, Althea Buford with 11 and Mary Brock with 10.

Laura Echols, who was named conference player of the week, topped Western with 18 points and seven rebounds. Tiffany Hamm scored 10 points.

Furman shot just 31.4 percent in the first half but held the Lady Cats to 17.2 percent shooting from the field and an 0-13 effort from three-point range, to lead 29-15 at the break. The Lady Paladins outrebounded WCU 31-21 in the first period and 55-37 for the game.

In the second half, Furman's offense came alive to connect on 16 of 32 (.500) field goals, while Western made just nine of 29 (.310).

Deshara Shealey dished out seven assists for the Lady Paladins.

Turnovers were nearly even with Western committing 22 and Furman having 21.

Completing the WCU scoring were Ki-Ki Glass with five, Nicole Loggins with four, and Janetta Heggins, Marsha McGillivary, Katie Scott, Melissa Ervin and Jennifer Gardner all with two.

Echols scored 23 of her 29 points in the second half to lead Western to a 70-45 victory over Gardner-Webb on Dec. 4 at the Ramsey Center. McGillivary chipped in 13 points.

The Lady Bulldogs were led by Casey Collins and Katie Gravel with 17 and 12 points, respectively. Echols made all eight of her field goals in the second half while hitting seven of eight free throws. She also had eight rebounds.

G-W led most of the first half, including a 21-14 margin at the 6:51 mark. However, Heggins hit a pair of free throws with four seconds left for a 27-27 tie at intermission.

An Echols layup with 14:27 on the clock keyed a 15-2 spurt giving WCU a 48-33 advantage with 10 minutes to play. Western ended the game on a 17-3 run over the final 4:42.

WCU shot 58.6 percent from the floor in the second half to finish at 50.9 percent. The Lady Bulldogs were held to 20 percent shooting after intermission and 30.2 percent for the game. The Lady Cats controlled the boards 41-28. Hamm and Echols both had eight rebounds while Collins and Crissy Guzman pulled down eight apiece for G-W.

The Lady Bulldogs committed 27 turnovers, and Western had 24.

Rounding out the WCU scoring were Allen with nine, Hamm with six, Glass with five, Miranda Long with four, and Heggins and Loggins with two each.

Echols scored a career-high 33 points while Hamm netted 15 and matched her career-high with 15 rebounds leading Western to an 83-66 victory Sunday at Radford.

The Lady Highlanders were led by Ludmila Nicheporchuk with 17 points. She was joined in double figures by Amanda Neby with 15, Sherri Rickman with 12 and Kylie Williamson with 10.

WCU shot a season-high 53.2 percent from the field while holding the Lady Highlanders to 35.4 percent.

The Lady Cats won the battle of the boards 45-37. Neby and Rickman led Radford with seven rebounds apiece.

Like she did against Gardner-Webb, Echols poured in 23 second-half points helping WCU pull away from a 34-26 halftime lead. She was 15 of 23 from the floor and pulled down seven rebounds.

Ervin, seeing extended playing time for an injured Allen, had four assists and no turnovers in 25 minutes.

Radford came out strong and jumped to a 10-2 lead on back-to-back threes by Nicheporchuk and Williamson.

The Lady Cats clawed their way back into it with a 9-2 run, giving them a 13-12 edge at the 9:51 mark. They completed the half with a 13-5 run.

Radford cut the gap to three with 13:38 remaining but could come no closer. Nine unanswered points helped WCU regain control.

The Lady Cats committed 19 turnovers, and Radford had 15.

Completing the WCU scoring were Glass and Gardner with seven each, Long with six, Ervin with five, McGillivary with four and Heggins and Scott both with three.

Western will have a 10-day layoff for exams before returning to action at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 19, against Davidson in a conference game at the Ramsey Center.

Back to Sports: 12/13/01.