Box Score
CULLOWHEE, NC -- UNC Greensboro won its fourth straight game with a 72-58 victory over Western Carolina in a Southern Conference women's basketball game this evening at Ramsey Center. The win was the first in Cullowhee for the Spartans since 2001 and marked the 11th victory in 16 contests against the Catamounts since joining the SoCon for the 1997-98 season.
"This is a big win for us," said UNCG head coach Lynne Agee. "To get a win like this on the road is a step forward. I thought we were ready to play immediately and that is so important when your away form home. We took a big lead early in the second half, they cut it to 15, but I thought our team showed great composure down the stretch to secure the win."
Freshman guard Kristen Boone led UNCG with a season-high 18 points, while senior guard Amanda Eaton pitched in with 12 points, including the 150th 3-pointer of her career, tops in Spartan women's basketball history. Junior center Caroline Blair added a season-high 10 points. Boone, who hails from Upper Marlboro, MD (Gwynn Park HS) sparked the UNCG offense once again, knocking down 4-of-6 shot attempts, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range, while going 8-for-10 from the free throw line. Boone also added to her league leading steals total with five.
Sophomore forward KaLeah Latham grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and added nine points. UNCG commited a season-low eight turnovers, while forcing the home team into 21 turns.
Shaketia Barnes led Western Carolina (7-9, 3-6 SoCon) wit 14 points, while Lori Tanner and Jennifer Gardner added 13 and 12 points respectively. Gardner pulled down a team-hig nine rebounds.
The Spartans (8-7, 5-3 SoCon) have now won four games in a row for the first time since the early stages of the 2002-03 season. The four straight league wins by UNCG is the most since the 2001-02 squad rattled off eight straight conference victories.
UNCG scored a season-high 41 points in the first-half to take a commanding 20 point, 41-21 lead into the locker room. The Spartans closed the stanza on a 35-8 run, after falling behind 13-6 just four minutes into action. Tanner led the Catamounts early with eight straight points, including two shots from beyond the arc, but WCU went ice cold from the floor, going scoreless over an 8:22 stretch.
Boone led UNCG in the first half with 10 points in 10 minutes of action off the bench. The Spartans posted their best shooting performance in the first-half of a game this season, as they converted 47.2 (17-of-36) percent of their field goal attempts.
UNCG would extend its lead to as many as 28, 61-33, on a Boone free throw with 11:21 remaining. Western Carolina responded with a 16-3 run to cut its deficit to 15, 64-49, with 5:36 left, but was only able to get as close as the final outcome, 72-58.
The Spartans return to action Tuesday night when they visit Davidson for a SoCon matchup at 7 pm in Davidson, NC. Meanwhile, Western Carolina hosts Elon on Monday at 7 pm.
AGATE
UNC GREENSBORO 72, WESTERN CAROLINA 58
UNC GREENSBORO (8-7, 5-3 SoCon)
BOONE, Kristen 4-6 8-10 18; EATON, Amanda 5-15 0-0 12; BLAIR, Caroline 5-8 0-0 10; LATHAM, KaLeah 2-3 5-8 9; BYRD, Jasmine 3-13 0-0 6; DIXON, Jasmine 3-7 0-0 6; OTAMIRI, Irene 2-5 0-0 4; BRITT, Stephanie 1-4 2-4 4; CHAMBERLAIN, Meghan 1-7 1-3 3; CURRENT, Ashley 0-1 0-0 0; BROOKS, Kemena 0-0 0-0 0; JACKSON, Shanika 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-69 16-25 72.
WESTERN CAROLINA (7-9, 3-6 SoCon)
BARNES, Shaketia 5-13 2-4 14; TANNER, Lori 5-6 1-2 13; GARDNER, Jennifer 5-9 2-2 12; HARDY, Teyawna 3-6 0-0 6; KEITH, Chevon 1-2 3-4 5; PELLOM, Ashley 2-8 0-0 5; GLASS, Ki-Ki 0-1 3-4 3; JOHNSON, Jessika 0-1 0-0 0; MANNINO, Christi 0-0 0-0 0; MAY, Erin 0-2 0-0 0; MALERAITE, Sigita 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 21-53 11-16 58.
UNC Greensboro............. 41 31 - 72
Western Carolina.............. 21 37 - 58
Halftime: UNC Greensboro 41, Western Carolina 21. 3-point goals-UNC Greensboro 4-18 (BOONE, Kristen 2-3; EATON, Amanda 2-10; BYRD, Jasmine 0-4; OTAMIRI, Irene 0-1), Western Carolina 5-15 (BARNES, Shaketia 2-5; TANNER, Lori 2-2; PELLOM, Ashley 1-3; GLASS, Ki-Ki 0-1; MALERAITE, Sigita 0-3; HARDY, Teyawna 0-1). Fouled out--UNC Greensboro-None, Western Carolina-None. Rebounds-UNC Greensboro 42 (LATHAM, KaLeah 10), Western Carolina 40 (GARDNER, Jennifer 9). Assists-UNC Greensboro 10 (EATON, Amanda 3; BRITT, Stephanie 3), Western Carolina 12 (BARNES, Shaketia 3). Total fouls-UNC Greensboro 17, Western Carolina 19. A-423.
- UNCG -
