Furman Falls 66-58 at Western Carolina

Cullowhee, N.C. - Catamount freshman Jennifer Gardner had career highs of 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead Western Carolina to a 66-58 victory over Furman Saturday afternoon at the Ramsey Activity Center. The win for Western (12-6, 5-5 SoCon) snapped a 12-game losing streak to the Paladins (11-8, 6-4 SoCon), which included a 72-47 Furman win over WCU on Dec. 6 in Timmons Arena. The Catamounts' last win over Furman came in 1996, which ended an eight-game losing streak to the Paladins at the time.

Gardner (Norcross, Ga.) was 6-of-9 from the field and 6-of-6 at the line in scoring her 18 points. Her previous best was scoring 11 points versus East Tennessee State (Jan. 12), while her previous best rebounding effort was six. Gardner scored the first points of the game as Western led from wire-to-wire. Furman did tie the game on eight occasions, but the Catamounts would always have an answer. Several times, that answer was Gardner as she made the basket to put Western back in the lead three times. With the game tied at 56 with 3:01 left, Gardner converted a conventional three-point play to put WCU on top 59-56 with 2:41 left. After two Janetta Heggins free throws, Gardner once again made an old-fashion three-point play to put Western up seven (63-56) with 1:59 left. Fittingly, Gardner scored the final points of the game on a pair of free throws with 11 second left to seal the game.

The Catamounts shot 37.1 percent from the field and out-rebounded the Paladins 22-20 to take a 30-29 lead at halftime. The numbers were significant as Furman held WCU to just 17.2 percent shooting over the first 20 minutes in the first meeting and out-rebounded the Cats 31-21. Saturday, Western Carolina led by as many as nine points in the first half on two occasions, including a 26-17 advantage with 6:16 left. Furman ended the first period on a 12-4 run to cut the lead to one at the break.

The second half started like the first with Gardner scoring the first points of the half. Other key baskets for the Catamounts in the second half included 3-pointers by Yoneko Allen and Melissa Ervin. Allen's came at the 17:42 mark to break the first tie of the second half and Ervin's came at the 5:12 mark to break a 51-51 tie. Western's Laura Echols was only 6-of-17 from the field, but scored 14 points to keep her SoCon-leading scoring average above 20 points per game for the season. The Conyers, Ga., native also had seven rebounds and three steals. Allen added nine points and Ervin, who was 2-of-2 from 3-point land, scored eight.

Furman had three players score in double figures, including Mary Brock (13), Orion Wake (11) and Deshara Shealey (10). Brock, who was 5-of-5 at the free throw line, also led the Paladins with seven rebounds.

Western Carolina will return to action on Monday (Jan. 28) when it plays at Davidson. Game time is set for 7 pm. Furman will host SoCon leader UNC Greensboro on Tuesday (Jan. 29) at 7 pm.