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 Junior Jennifer Gardner recorded her 500th career rebound versus UTC, pulling down 13 in the game to give her 510 overall. |
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Feb. 5, 2004
Chattanooga, Tenn. - The Lady Mocs forced 30 turnovers, which resulted in 23 points as Western Carolina fell victim to Chattanooga, 65-46, Thursday night at McKenzie Arena. With the loss, the Catamounts drop to 7-13 overall and 6-7 in the Southern Conference. The Mocs improve to 19-2 overall and remain perfect in conference action at 14-0, holding the nation's longest winning streak at 17 straight games.
Chattanooga managed just three points in the first five minutes, but turned a three-point deficit into a 16-6 advantage with a 13-0 spurt in slightly more than five minutes. Four of those points came from WCU turnovers.
Balanced scoring through the first half lifted UTC to a 31-19 halftime edge. After the Catamounts scored the first bucket of the second half, the Lady Mocs went on a 12-2 run and again, four of those points came off Catamount miscues. The second-half lead stretched to 26 (65-39) before WCU closed the game with seven straight points.
The 30 WCU turnovers were a season high and the most by a UTC opponent since Samford had 34 on Nov. 27, 2001. Chattanooga also picked up 10 steals, with Nicole Mattison getting a career-best four.
Western Carolina was led by Jennifer Gardner and Tiffany Hamm, who both had double-doubles. Gardner (17 points, 13 boards) had her seventh double-double and Hamm (15 points, 14 rebounds) had her eighth double-double with 10 boards alone coming on the offensive end. Gardner also reached a career milestone by going over 500 career rebounds (510). Ki-Ki Glass had a team-best three assists, while Hamm grabbed a team-high three steals.
The Catamounts won the board war 47-33, which marked the second straight game UTC has been outrebounded.
Katie Galloway had a solid all-around game with eight points, seven assists, three steals and no turnovers. Heather McDivitt saw her first action after missing two games with a back ailment and she had two assists and three rebounds. Mattison added nine points and Miranda Warfied scored eight.
Western Carolina hits the court again Monday at ETSU at 7:00 pm, while the Lady Mocs continue their four-game home stand with a Monday contest against Appalachian State at 5:15 pm.
