WCU at CofC Game Notes
2/23/2008 5:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
? The College of Charleston hosts Western Carolina, Monday, Feb. 25th at 7:00 p.m. ... the Catamounts took the 60-49 win over the Cougars in the last meeting ... both teams struggled offensively as the score remained tight throughout most of the game ... that changed with 1:27 to go in the game ... with the Cougars only down by four, 50-46, the Catamounts went on a 10-3 run to put the game away and take the win ... Charleston was out-rebounded 59-37 in the game ...
? Western Carolina leads the series 20-10 and have won the last four in a row ... the Cougars are looking for their first win against the Catamounts since a 64-59 decision Jan. 14, 2002 ...
? Charleston is 12-13 overall and 8-7 in the Southern Conference ... the Cougars are fifth in the league standings ... Jill Furstenburg leads the Cougars with 11.4 points a game ... Brooke Kotcella follows with 8.4 a game ... Nikki Williams leads in rebounds with 6.6 ...
? The Catamounts are 22-6 overall and 14-2 in the league ... WCU has won eight straight, and 13 of its last 14 ... its current winning streak started with the last win over the Cougars ... The Catamounts are coming off an 87-58 win over Georgia Southern Feb. 23rd ... Brooke Johnson leads WCU wiht 11.9 points per game ... Chevon Keith leads the team in rebounds with 9.1 a game ...
? The game against the Catamounts will be the final women's basketball game played in the current John Kresse Arena ... next season, Charleston will move into the "new" John Kresse Arena located in the Carolina First Center being built adjacent to the current building ... After Monday, the Cougars will have played their 443rd game in the friendly confines of the Kresse Arena ... Charleston is currently 209-133 there ... The Cougars have a home winning record in 17 of the 25 years in the building ... Charleston is 7-6 this season at Kresse ...
? The loss against Georgia Southern was the first this season for the Cougars when leading at half ... Charleston led the Eagles 29-28 at intermission before taking the eventual 62-39 loss ... the Cougars were outscored 34-10 in the second half after shooting only 11.1 percent from the field in those 20 minutes ...
? The Cougars need just two conference wins to match their most league wins in the SoCon ... the 10 earned in the 2004-05 season is the most in league play, in the TAAC (now A-Sun) and the Southern Conference ...
? With 12 overall wins, the Cougars have garnered the most since winning 15 in the 2004-05 season ...
? Charleston is holding their opponents to 58.2 points per game ... should that hold for the remainder of the season, it would mark the second lowest total for the Cougars since at least the 1981-82 season ... adequate CofC Women's Basketball statistics have not been found yet for years prior ...
? The UNCG game marked the first time this year the Cougars have given up over 60 points and still won ... the last time, in fact, that this happened was last year against the Spartans ... CofC took that game, 73-61, Jan. 15, 2007 ...
? CofC pulled down a season-high 51 rebounds against Appalachian State ... the 51 rebounds ranks fourth in the CofC Division I record books ...
? Erika Smith has taken sole possession of second in the CofC Division I career blocks lists ... she has 154 ...
? The Cougars rank 23rd in the nation in scoring defense with 55.1 and 14th in FG pct. defense with 35.4 ... Erika Smith is 62nd in blocked shots with 1.7 ... these stats are accurate as of Feb. 17th ...
? Charleston's key to victory is its stingy defense ... this season the Cougars are 11-1 when holding their opponents to under 59 points, the only loss a 55-53 decision to Charleston Southern ...
? Maybe the Cougars just needed to get out of November ... Charleston was 0-4 during the month of November ... The Cougars shot just 33.3 percent from the field and only averaged 51.0 points per game ... Charleston was outrebounded 48.2 to 37.0 and was only 13-of-29 from the free throw line ... In December, the Cougars were 5-2 and shot 43.0 percent from the field, outscoring the other teams by an average of 12.0 points (68.0 - 55.7) ... CofC outrebounded the opposition 288-263 and averaged 41.1 a game, compared to 37.6 for the other team ... Charleston also made 79-of-115 free throws ... The Cougars were 4-4 in January and averaged 53.9 points per game, shooting 33.0 percent from the field ... Opponents averaged 53.0 ppg and shot 33.9 percent ... Charleston was also 102-for-142 (97-for-167 for the opposition) from the free throw line and averaged 41.9 rebounds per game, compared to 40.5 for the opposition ... The Cougars are 3-3 in February ...
? Either the Cougars win big or lose big ... Charleston is averaging a 18.0 point deficit in the losses ... CofC, however, has won its 12 games by an average of 16.8 points ... Charleston shoots 40.5 percent in the wins but just 31.7 in the losses ... Two Cougars score in double-figures in the wins (Kotcella with 12.3 and Furstenburg with 14.2), but none are in double-figures in losses (Furstenburg being the closest with 8.8 a game) ... seven of the team's 11 wins are by over at least a 15-point margin ... of Charleston's 13 losses, 11 are by more than 10 points ...
? The Cougars were a perfect 12-for-12 from the free throw line in the loss to Davidson ... that was a CofC Division I record (minimum 10 made) ...
? Charleston did something it hasn't done since the 2001-02 season, win back-to-back games on the road ... Charleston last won two in a row on the road Jan. 12, 2002 at Appalachian State and Jan. 14, 2002 at Western Carolina ... Charleston recently defeated Elon and UNC Greensboro on the road ...
? Charleston is shooting better than its opponents overall, posting a 36.3 shooting percentage, compared to 36.0 for the opponents ...
? Despite the loss of two starters, including leading scorer Jade Hughes who averaged 11.1 points per game last season, the Cougars return 65.9 percent of their scoring, 64.4 percent of their rebounding and 63.9 percent of their minutes played from last year's team ...
? The Cougars are 22-0 when holding opponents to under 30% FG percentage since joining the Southern Conference in 1998-99 ... Charleston last held Wofford to just 25.5 percent Jan. 14, 2008 ... Charleston has held five opponents this season to under 30% ...
? Construction of the new Carolina first Center is well underway ... expected completion date is next October ... The Cougars are expected to begin playing in the new arena next season ... the 5,000 seat arena will also house all of the athletic offices for coaches and staff and will include a new Academic Support Center, a dedicated media room, a new training room and a new weight room, among many other features ... Charleston owns a 207-133 mark in the current John Kresse Arena, which includes 15 winning records in the 25 years the building has been open ... The Carolina First Center sits adjacent to the F. Mitchell Johnson Center and faces Meeting Street ...
? Charleston was picked to finish 10th in the SoCon Pre-season poll ... the Cougars finished last season 10-20 overall, 5-13 in the league and eighth in the standings ... Currently, the Cougars are second in the league with a 3-1 SoCon record ...
? The College of Charleston ended the 2006-07 season tops in several categories in the Southern Conference ...Charleston led the league in scoring defense (59.8) and field goal percentage defense (.383) ... The Cougars were in the top five in other areas as well, including second in blocked shots (4.3) third in rebounding defense (37.9) and third in offensive rebounds (15.8).
? Charleston welcomed three newcomers to the team this year ... Tonia Gerty comes from Port Orange, Fla., and graduated from Spruce Creek high School ... her high school team was conference champion for three years ... she broke the assists and steals record as well and was recently selected to the Spruce Creek High School Hall of Fame ... Megan King graduated last May from Canterbury where she led her team to the regional finals two years and the state semifinals one year ... She was the third leading scorer in the state and among the state's leaders in steals and free throw percentage ... King's sister, Rachel, played for the Cougars from 2001-05 ... Jayme Warner hails from Tallahassee, Fla., and graduated from Florida State High School ... Her team was district runners-up her first two seasons and district and state champions her last two. She was a captain and MVP her junior and senior years.
? All games will be broadcast this year at CofCSports.com ... Home games will feature audio as well as video, while road games will feature just audio broadcasts ... To access the video and/or audio of the games users go to www.CofCSports.com and under the "Inside the Pride" logo on the right click ?subscribe' ... After subscribing to CofCSports.com users can access the schedule of events by clicking the link ?Live Events' listed in the menu on the left.
? Will Herring, in his second season with Cougar women's basketball, will handle all internet radio play-by-play duties. The senior from Lexington, S.C., is a Communications major and is a 2004 graduate of Irmo High School.
