Deacons Head West for Catamount Challenge
12/7/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 7, 2007
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - The Wake Forest Demon Deacons will face Western Carolina in Cullowhee, N.C. on Saturday at 4 p.m.
The Catamount (5-1)/Demon Deacon (8-1) series began in 1972, the inaugural season for Wake Forest. The teams have met 19 times since the first match up, and the series is nearly dead even. WCU holds a 5-1 advantage in Cullowhee and Wake holds a 5-1 advantage in Winston-Salem. In neutral territory, WCU has a 5-2 edge. At the teams' last meeting in 2006, the Deacons surrendered an early lead and the Catamounts took a 74-71 win.
Western Carolina is the third non-conference school on the 2007 Demon Deacon schedule with a top 50 rating percentage index (RPI) ranking, according to collegeRPI.com. James Madison, who ranks 10th in RPI, handed Wake Forest its first loss of the season in mid-November (64-53). At the Paradise Jam, the Deacons defeated 14th ranked Texas A&M 53-46, marking the team's first top 50 RPI win since the squad defeated 16th ranked Virginia Tech on January 19, 2006. Western Carolina is currently ranked 36th, while the Demon Deacons are 30th on the unofficial report.
The Deacons enter the contest on a six-game win streak, with a recent 64-46 win over Wright State on Wednesday night. The Catamounts are riding a 3-game streak, with win last week over Sun Belt Conference power Middle Tennessee State. In WCU's second game of the season, the team defeated Clemson in South Carolina 62-53.
The game will broadcast over cyberspace on CSTV All-Access with play-by-play by ISP's Alan York.
The trip to Cullowhee, N.C. will be the last Wake Forest road game in the 2007 calendar year. The Demon Deacons follow the game with a six-game homestand, starting with Radford on December 16, and ending with conference opponent Virginia on January 6. A couple of special events are scheduled during home games, including a doubleheader with the men on Sunday, December 16.
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