Dec. 19, 2001
Cullowhee, N.C. - Freshman Melissa Ervin drained 5-of-6 3-pointers, while senior Laura Echols registered her third double-double of the season to lead the Western Carolina women's basketball team to a 107-80 victory over conference foe Davidson Wednesday night at the Ramsey Center.
The game marked Western's first time to reach the century mark since defeating Georgia Southern 102-94 late in the 1995-96 season. It additionally was the Catamounts' 12th time to score in triple digits and their most points since scoring a school-record 119 points versus Berea in the 1982-83 campaign.
Ervin, the all-time leading 3-point shooter in Tennessee high school history, finished with 15 points in her first career start with three rebounds, two assists and zero turnovers in 23 minutes. Echols was 9-of-16 from the field and 6-of-6 from the line in scoring 25 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.
Western Carolina (8-2, 1-1 SoCon) jumped out to an early lead 19-8 lead five minutes into the contest thanks to a 3-pointer by Ervin and two treys from sophomore Tiffany Hamm. The Catamounts only hit four field goals over the next six minutes, but were able to extend its advantage to 15, 36-21, hitting nine free throws over the span. Davidson began chipping away at Western's double digit lead over the final 5:35 of the first half and ended the period on an 8-1 run to only trail 50-47 at the break.
Both teams were 5-of-9 from 3-point range in the first half, but Western dominated the battle of the boards, 21-14, and made 17 free throws to Davidson's eight.
The Wildcats (4-5, 1-1 SoCon) kept the game close early in the second period, but would not overtake Western. With the game tied at 55-55 with 17:30 left, Laura Echols scored six points in a 10-0 Catamount run over the next three minutes. Davidson's Meghan Bryant quickly answered with a layup to cut the lead to eight, 65-57, but would not get any closer the remainder of the game.
Western's Miranda Long recorded a career high with 12 points in 5-of-6 shooting. The freshman from Cherokee entered the game with only one assist to her credit on the season, but dished out four tonight. In addition to Ervin and Echols, fellow starters Hamm, Ki-Ki Glass and Marsha McGillivary each scored in double figures. Hamm and McGillivary were each 2-of-3 from 3-point range and each scored 11 points. Glass, who was 8-of-8 from the free throw line, had career highs with 10 points and seven rebounds and just missed tying a career-high with eight assists.
Davidson was led Janna Magette. The senior scored 19 points and just missed a double-double in pulling down nine rebounds. Sophomore Robyn Flewelling tied a career high with 13 points, while Emily Callahan came off the bench to score a career-high 12 points.
Western Carolina will return to action on Dec. 30 when it hosts Wofford. Game time is set for 2:00 p.m., at the RAC. Davidson will also resume play on Dec. 30, hosting UNC Wilmington.
