The Lady Catamounts took care of business recently when they went on the road for a Southern Conference showdown against the Elon Phoenix on Monday, Jan. 19. The Western Carolina women’s basketball team tamed the Phoenix 78-50.
Western was in control from the beginning, holding Elon to 10 field goals in the first half, which along with a solid offensive showing, helped the Catamounts build a nine point lead at halftime, 35-26. The Catamounts improved on their first half performance in the second half by completely overwhelming the Phoenix.
The Catamounts came out of the locker room hitting on all cylinders and were able to stretch their lead from nine points to 20 points. In the first 12 minutes of the second half, the Phoenix were outscored 34-16. The defense also improved in the second half. Western Carolina allowed only three made shots by the Phoenix during the first 12 minutes of the second half and only 8 total in the second half. Overall, the Phoenix connect only on 18 of their 65 shot attempts, shooting 27 percent. The Catamounts were able to shoot 47 percent. WCU also pulled down 47 rebounds.
The Catamounts had four players who scored in double figures in the win: Kendra Eaton, Brooke Johnson, Kaila’ Shea Mendez, and Lauren Powell. Eaton led the team with 17 points and five rebounds. Johnson scored 11 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to be named SoCon student athlete of the week for the third time this year. Mendez added 12 points and Powell chipped in with 10 of her own.
The Phoenix only had one player to score in double figures with Amber Walls scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
The win gave the Catamounts their fourth straight win on the road which is a marked improvement over how they started the season, going 0-5 in their first five games away from the comforts of the Ramsey Center.
