Western pushes

past ASU
By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

Usually when a basketball team turns the ball over 28 times, winning the game is next to impossible.

Western Carolina’s women’s basketball team turned the ball over exactly 28 times Monday night at the Holmes Center, and yet had little trouble handing Appalachian State an 87-63 setback.

Appalachian State (2-12, 0-4 SoCon) suffered its fourth straight loss and has lost 10 of its last 11. Western Carolina (10-5, 2-1) broke a three-game losing streak.

Western’s miscues led to 25 points scored by the Mountaineers. But turnovers were not a problem limited to just the Catamounts. Appalachian State turned it right back to Western Carolina 27 times, which led to 28 Catamount points.

“Our first half offensive performance was horrendous,” Western Carolina coach Kelly Harper said. “Credit Appalachian. They got into the passing lanes and they did a good job of taking things away from us.”

Western Carolina had trouble hanging on to the ball for much of the game. The first half was especially problematic for the Catamounts, who gave the ball away 21 times. Yet the Catamounts finished the half with 3-point baskets from Chevon Keith and Monique Dawson, who buried her trey after dribbling past two Mountaineers and launching her shot from around 23 feet away from the basket just before the buzzer.

It gave the Catamounts a 38-31 halftime lead after the Mountaineers had pulled into a 29-29 tie with a 7-0 run that was capped by Whitney Tossie steal and layup and a foul shot from Whitney Randolph.

“We didn’t necessarily play smart,” Mountaineers coach Adrienne Shuler said. “We were tied with 1:22 left in the first half and then we let them go on a 7-0 run. Instead of a tie, they go into halftime with some momentum.”

Western Carolina stretched its lead to 50-39 early in the second half and added to it throughout the game. The Catamounts eventually claimed a 87-61 advantage, their largest of the game, with 22.3 seconds left.

“Our defensive pressure let down in the second half,” Shuler said. “We weren’t as aggressive in the second half.”

It helped that Western was also able to outrun the Mountaineers. The Cats scored 23 points off of fastbreaks compared to 14 for the Mountaineers.

Appalachian State got 16 points from GiGi Thomas and 15 from Frances Hernandez, who hit two of the Mountaineers’ three 3-point shots. Randolph added 13 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, while Tossie scored 11.

Appalachian State hit 43.1 percent of its shots, but made just 3-of-11 from beyond the 3-point arc. Western hit 54.8 percent from the field, and got 20 points from Jessika Johnson, Western’s 6-foot-2 forward. She hit 7-of-9 shots from the field and 6-of-7 from the foul line.

Keith, a 5-11 forward, scored 18 points and pulled down 13 rebounds, while Lauren Powell scored 15 for the Cats.

Harper felt that once the Catamounts stopped turning the ball over so much, they were able to get the ball down low to Johnson and Keith.

“I felt like we were taking good, high percentage shots,” Harper said. “And the other people found them. We had 23 assists, which is more than we usually get.”

The Mountaineers won’t play again until Saturday when they play at Davidson, which lost to Western Carolina 71-67 last Saturday. Shuler said cutting down on mistakes will make beating the Wildcats a bit easier.

“We’re beating ourselves,” Shuler said.

Western Carolina 87, ASU 63
Western Carolina (10-5, 2-1)
Johnson 7-9 6-7 20, Eaton 2-4 0-1 4, Dawson 2-6 1-5 7, Keith 8-11 1-3 18, Powell 6-14 0-0 15, Swayne 0-2 2-2 2, Carroll 2-2 2-2 6, Pellom 1-5 0-2 2, Clarke 3-5 1-2 7, Feemster 3-4 0-0 5. Totals 34-62 13-24 44.
Appalachian State (2-12, 0-4)
Randolph 5-7 2-5 13, Mixon 2-3 0-2 4, Thomas 8-16 0-4 16, Ramierez 1-3 0-0 2, Tossie 4-10 3-4 11, Spencer 0-4 2-2 2, Hernandez 5-15 3-4 15, Cunningham 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-58 10-21 63.
Halftime score—Western 38, ASU 31. 3-point goals—Western 6-19 (Powell 3-9, Dawson 2-5, Keith 1-2, Pellom 0-1, Eaton 0-2), ASU 3-11 (Hernandez 2-7, Randolph 1-1, Thomas 0-1, Ramierez 0-1). Rebounds—Western 44 (Keith 13), ASU 30 (Randolph 10). Assists—Western 23 (Four players with four), ASU 13 (Ramierez 4). Turnovers—Western 28, ASU 27.