CULLOWHEE, N.C. – The UNCG women's basketball team lost on the road at Western Carolina, 70-49, Saturday afternoon at the Ramsey Center.

The Spartans fall to 5-15 overall and are 0-5 in the SoCon. Western Carolina picks up its first conference win improving to 9-11, 1-4 in SoCon action.

UNCG finished the game shooting 28.8 percent on 17-of-59 from the field and Western Carolina shot 50 percent off 27-of-54. The Spartans were 12-of-19 from the free throw line and ended with 34 rebounds (16 offensively).

Junior guard Lucy Mason (Stone Mountain, Ga./Chamblee Charter) led the team with 13 points, all in the second half, on 5-of-12 shooting. Mason had five assists, two steals and six rebounds to pace UNCG. Sophomore Shanese Harris (Chesapeake, Va/Western Branch) added nine points, including 7-for-8 from the free throw line. Senior Jarae Savage (Marietta, Ga./North Cobb) had seven points and six rebounds.

Freshman Ace Easter scored a career-high 21 points off 9-of-13 from the field with five rebounds and four steals to pace Western Carolina to victory. Justin Taylor added 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

In the first half, the Blue and Gold took an early 6-2 lead off a jumper from sophomore Bailey Williams (Harrisonburg, Va./Spotswood) at the 17:12 mark.

WCU would go on a 6-2 run to take an 8-6 lead off a fastbreak layup from Taylor with 12:32 left in the opening half. Over the next six minutes, Western Carolina would increase its lead to seven thanks to an 11-6 advantage capped by a three-pointer from Lindsay Simpson.

UNCG would cut the lead to one after scoring six-straight points, including a layup from sophomore Jade Scaife (Fort Washington, Md./Archbishop Spalding) with under four minutes left in the period.

The Catamounts would end the half on an 11-4 run, including a layup at the buzzer from Taylor to make the score 30-22 at halftime.

WCU would opened the second half on a 14-3 run to take control leading 44-25 with 14:55 left in the contest. UNCG cut the lead to 44-31 after a three-pointer from junior Jazmine Missouri (Largo, Md./Academy of the Holy Cross) with 12:29 remaining.

The Catamounts answered again upping their lead to 22 points off a jumper from Easter after a 9-0 run made the score 53-31 with 8:12 on the clock.

Mason would start to heat up scoring seven-straight points but WCU continued to lead 56-42 with just five minutes left in the game. UNCG would only score seven points the rest of the game falling to Western Carolina 70-49.

UNCG travels to Spartanburg, S.C. to face Wofford Saturday, Jan. 31 at 2 p.m.