Deacons fall to Western, North Carolina
By Margaret McKenzie
Old Gold and Black Reporter

The Demon Deacon women’s basketball team felt the wrath of a pair in-state opponents last week, falling to North Carolina 90-68 Dec. 5 before sharp second-half shooting propelled Western Carolina to a dramatic come-from-behind victory over the Demon Deacons on Nov 29. The loss in Cullowhee marked the first game without leading scorer sophomore Eafton Hill, who has been sidelined with a broken bone in her right foot.

Coretta Brown led North Carolina’s charge against the Deacs, pouring in 23 points in front of the Chapel Hill crowd. The No. 18 Tar Heels held a 47-38 lead at halftime and furthered it with sterling play in the final period, as five ’Heels notched double figure point totals.

Sophomore guard Tonia Brown and senior LaChina Robinson turned in strong games for the Deacons with 17 and 16 points, respectively. The Deacons showed considerable resiliency, coming to within 66-60 with 10:36 left before the Tar Heels finally put the game away. The loss brings the Deacon’s record to 2-4, 0-1 in the ACC.

The Western Carolina game was tight throughout the first half with neither team building more than a three-point lead for most of the half. In the first half both teams shot 46 percent from the floor, but the Deacs gained the edge with a 3-for-6 performance from three-point range. Pulling away at the close of the first 20 minutes, the Deacs went on a 13-8 run that started with a three-point shot by freshman Jennifer Johnson with just under seven minutes left. The Deacs were 7-of-12 from the floor during the run and built the lead to 10 points at the waning seconds of the half. Yet the momentum going into the second half belonged to Western Carolina as center Laura Echols hit a buzzer-beating layup to cut the lead to eight.

Western Carolina shot the lights out in the second half, missing only nine shots and shooting an impressive 59.1 percent from the floor. The Deacs matched the exuberant play, increasing the lead to as many as 12 points. Foul trouble plagued senior center La China Robinson in the second half, as she committed three in fewer than three minutes.
With Robinson on the bench, Western Carolina began to chip away at the Deacon’s advantage, taking the lead at the 7:37 mark. Catamount sophomore guard Yokeno Allen drained a three, cutting the lead to one. After two capricious turnovers by senior guard Adell Harris and freshman forward Erin Ferell on the following two plays, Allen hit two more three-point shots. After falling behind, the Deacons became flustered.

“It was very difficult to watch the lead slip away in three possessions, just because you could see us on the court loose our composure,” senior guard Val Klopfer said. “It was difficult because I felt like we should have had more control in that game. So just seeing them and how excited they got to beat an ACC team was hard.”

The Deacons struggled to within four points, but could never reclaim the lead. “We lost focus on defensive assignments and we panicked when they went ahead of us because they weren’t supposed to go ahead,” Klopfer said. Consistently accurate from the line, Western Carolina sealed the victory hitting 14 out of 17 from the charity stripe.
Sophomore Tiffany Hamm was the go to player in the closing minutes making 6-of-6 from the free-throw line.

The Deacons struggled to even reach the line and only made 3 of the 8 taken. Hamm and senior Laura Echols, scoring 21 and 20 points respectively, led Western Carolina.
Sophomore guard Tonia Brown and Ferrell led the way for the Deacs each scoring 16 points. Robinson snagged seven offensive and five defensive rebounds, recording a game high of 12 before fouling out.