College of Charleston
Western Carolina
Cougars Fall in Overtime to Catamounts, 60-56
1/8/2011 10:26:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Kaila'Shea Menendez scored 14 points, five of which came in overtime, to lead the Western Carolina Catamounts to the 60-56 win over the College of Charleston women's basketball team in front of 285 fans at the Ramsey Center in Cullowhee, N.C.
It was the first overtime game of the season for the Cougars and the just the fourth since the 2006-07 season. It was also the first since the 2009 Southern Conference Championship game against the same Catamounts. WCU won that game in three overtimes, 101-87.
Janae Smith (Matteson, Ill.) connected on three straight three-pointers to open the game as the Cougars (4-11, 1-5) led 9-7 before Catamount Kristen Lyon nailed WCU's first three-pointer to take the 10-9 lead with 13:38 on the clock. It was part of a 15-0 run by the Catamounts (5-10, 3-3) as they took a 20-9 lead with 8:25 to go in the half. A Charleston basket by Latisha Harris (Aynor, S.C.) 7:25 ended a drought that began at 16:36.
Two quick jumpers by the Cougars cut the Catamount lead to seven, 20-13, before WCU responded with a three at 4:08 to lead by 10, 23-13 at the 4:08 mark. Charleston ended the half with an 8-2 run, capped off with a three-pointer by Megan Fischer (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) with 8.1 on the clock, to head into the locker room only trailing by four, 25-21.
Charleston cut the margin to one, 33-32 with a basket and a free throw by Smith at 14:13 but despite several attempts, could not retake the lead. Western Carolina outscored the Cougars 15-7 over the next nine minutes to take a 46-39 lead with 4:54 remaining.
Charleston pressured the ball the final two minutes and cut the margin to three, 50-47, with 1:31 on the clock before WCU was forced to call a timeout. CofC cut it to one, 50-49, off two free throws by Fischer with 1:09 to go. After Western Carolina used a free throw to take the lead to 51-49 at 31.6, Fischer nailed a three-pointer with 12.5 to go to give the Cougars their first lead of the half, 52-51. WCU's Menendez hit one of two free throws to knot the game at 52 with 4.7 on the clock and the shot at the buzzer by Gerty was just wide as the game ended in regulation tied at 52.
Fischer hit a quick jumper at 4:50 in overtime to give the Cougars the short-lived two-point lead. WCU hit a free throw to cut the margin to one at 4:34. After trading points, the Cougars held the one-point lead until Janae' McKinney tied the game at 56 with 1:27 on the clock. The Catamounts retook the lead at 40.2 (58-56) off a jumper by Carroll and successful free throws by WCU sealed the 60-56 win.
Leading the Cougars was Smith with 17 points and 10 rebounds for her second career double-double. Fischer followed with 12 points. Menendez led the Catamounts with 14 points. Shauna Terry paced the team in rebounds with 12.
Charleston shot 31.7 percent for the game, compared to a 31.3 percent effort for WCU. The Cougars were 13-of-20 from the charity stripe while the Catamounts were 18-of-33. WCU held the 53-40 advantage in rebounds and turnovers were tied up at 18 apiece.
Charleston is next in action Thursday, Jan.13 at Wofford. Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m.
