Wake Forest University
Westrn Carolina
Women's Hoops Loses To Western Carolina, 72-64
11/29/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 29, 2001
Cullowhee, N.C. -- Sophomore Tiffany Hamm scored a season-high 21 points and senior Laura Echols added 20 to lead Western Carolina to a 72-64 come-from-behind victory over Wake Forest in women's basketball action Thursday night at the Ramsey Activity Center.
Western (4-1) kept the game close most of the first half until Wake Forest (2-3) went on a 13-8 run and took a 35-27 lead at the halftime. Both teams shot 46 percent from the field over the first 20 minutes. However, the Demon Deacons drained 3-of-6 from 3-point range, while Western only connected on 1-of-3.
Wake Forest kept its lead until Catamount sophomore Yoneko Allen made 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions to give Western a five point lead, 54-49, at the 7:37 mark of the second half. The Deacons answered with a free throw, but would not get any closer the remainder of the contest.
Hamm made 9-of-11 free throws in the second half, including 6-of-6 inside the final minute, to seal the victory. She was also 2-of-2 from long range, while adding eight rebounds. Echols was 7-of-12 from the floor and 5-for-6 from the line in scoring her 20 points. Her biggest shot may have been a 3-pointer on an inbounds pass as the 30-second shot clock expired late in the second half. Allen added 13 points on the night.
Wake Forest was paced by Tonia Brown and Erin Ferrell, each scoring 16 points. Brown was 7-of-12 from the floor with a 3-pointer and a free throw, while Ferrell was 7-of-10 with a 3-pointer and a free throw. LaChina Robinson pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end.
The Catamounts only missed nine second-half shots (13-of-22) and shot a season-high 52.1 percent from the floor for the game. Western also made 16-of-22 free throws, including 14-of-17 in the second half. Wake Forest was only 1-of-4 from the line in the second half and 3-of-8 for the game.
With the win, Western ends a three-game losing streak to the Deacons and improves its all-time record versus WFU to 11-7. The Catamounts additionally improve to 12-4 in home openers since the Ramsey Activity Center was opened in the 1986-87 season.
Western Carolina will play the second of its current three-game homestand with a Saturday (Dec. 1) men's and women's doubleheader versus region rival UNC Asheville in the second annual Asheville Citizen-Times Mountain Hoops Classic. The women's game with the Bulldogs is set for 1:00 p.m., in the RAC, while the men's game is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. Wake Forest will return to action on Wednesday (Dec. 5) with a road game at conference foe and 24th-ranked North Carolina.
