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Lady Paladins Drop 66-56 Decision to Western Carolina In SoCon Quarterfinal
March 4, 2005
CHATTANOOGA - Jennifer Gardner led the Catamounts with 21 points as the sixth-seeded Western Carolina topped third-seeded Furman 66-56 in the quarterfinal round of the 2005 Kyocera Southern Conference Women's Basketball Championships at Maclellan Gymnasium.
Gardner finished with her 18th double-digit scoring effort this season and fifth game with 20 or more points. Sigita Maleraite hit four treys en route to 14 points and four rebounds for the Lady Catamounts.
Jen Nadalin led Furman with 18 points and eight boards with Tommi Paris adding 16 points on six-of-nine shooting from the floor.
Western Carolina took the lead early in the game and held Furman to four ties before the Lady Paladins took the lead with 4:20 left in the first half. WCU led by two with three seconds left when a Monique Dawson foul sent Furman's Katie Roach to the line to tie the game at 28 at the half.
The second half saw the same see-saw with Western Carolina taking the lead on 14 occasions before a Gardner layup gave the Catamounts the lead for good with 5:50 left in the game. However, Western Carolina shot 44.8 percent in the second half after shooting 30 percent in the first half. The Paladins did the opposite switch, shooting 43.5 percent in the first half and 37.5 percent in the second.
Foul shooting proved to be the difference as WCU hit 70.6 percent (12-of-17) while Furman shot only 66.7 percent (16-of-24) from the charity stripe.
Quotes: Western Carolina's Kellie Harper: "I am extremely proud of these young ladies. They came in and fought a very tough Furman team. We simply found a way to win, and that's what it is about in March.
(regarding final five minutes) "We made some shots and crashed the boards down the stretch. I feel like they (Furman) got a little tight when some of their shots didn't fall, fortunately for us."
(on the upsets from today) "It's good to be on the winning side. All year this league has been unpredictably and the tournament is representing that as well."
Sam Dixon: (regarding final five minutes) "We missed some good shots and they made some big shots. But down the stretch we didn't keep them off the boards and I think that was the big difference. They got to the foul line and they are a great foul-shot shooting team. You can't consistently send them to the line and expect to win."
