MBB: SoCon games tonight

Conference play opened last night in the SoCon with Furman traveling to Elon. The Phoenix pulled out the win in front of 958 fans, by shooting 46% field goals to Furman's 39%.

Tonight, the remainder of the conference is in action, with five games scheduled. Along with the Cats traveling to Samford, Chattanooga is at Georgia Southern, the Citadel travels across town to Charleston (ESPN3), Greensboro is at Appy State, and Davidson is at Wofford (ESPN3).  My picks are in bold.

WBB: Cats fall to Georgia State

Cullowhee, NC - The Cats fought to the bitter end, turning the game into a nail-bitter, but dropped the home game to Georgia State, 64-59.  But in the end, it was free throws that were the key to the final outcome of the game. The Cats were called for 16 fouls in the second half, while Georgia State was whistled for only 6.  The Panthers scored a total of 24 points at the free throw line, with 14 of those points coming in the second half.

The Catamounts open SoCon play on Saturday hosting the Davidson Wildcats. The game starts at 2 p.m. and is first of a conference doubleheader with the men's team playing Greensboro.

WBB: Menendez Named SoCon Student-Athlete of the Week

Menendez

Spartanburg, SC - Kalia’Shea Menendez has been named the Southern Conference’s Student-Athlete of the Week, the league office announced today.  Menendez averaged 11.5 points in two games, and has now recorded double figures in six of the first seven games this season.  The Raleigh native maintains a 3.32 GPA in sociology.

Golf: Women sign two for 2012-13

Cullowhee, NC - Head women's golf coach Mallory Hetzel announced a pair of golfers that will join the Catamounts for the 2012-13 season, Taylor Allison (Elizabeth City, N.C. / Northeastern HS) and Mariah Hopkins (Greensboro, N.C. / Home Schooled) have signed National Letters of Intent to play with WCU.

"They are both very excited about the opportunity to represent WCU. We expect Taylor and Mariah to come in and contribute right away. They have the ability to add a lot to our team in terms of both leadership and enthusiasm." said Hetzel. "Taylor is a very unique talent. She plays with tremendous poise and consistency and is an excellent putter. I watched her play 10-to-12 rounds this past summer and never once saw her miss a putt inside of six feet," said Hetzel. "Mariah comes from a very athletic family. She possesses the rare combination of strength and touch. I have seen Mariah hit wedge shots that would make most people jealous. I really admire the way she always seems to play with a cool and confident attitude."

MBB: Samford

Courtesy Samford

Homewood, Al - Western Carolina goes on the road to open their Southern Conference schedule this year at Samford University. The Catamounts leads the overall series with the Bulldogs, 5-2.  In games played in Homewood, Samford leads, 2-1 - while in games played in Cullowhee, Western Carolina leads, 4-0.  The Bulldogs own an overall record of 1-3 this season.  They have one road win, at UT Arlington (71-69). Their home court has not been kind so far this season, as they have 2 home losses (Youngstown State and Georgia State) as well as, a road loss at Jacksonville.

For more information on this game, follow the link below.

Game #8 - Samford

WBB: Georgia State

Cullowhee, NC - Western Carolina and Georgia State meet for 12th time in Tuesday's game in Cullowhee at the Ramsey Center.  Western Carolina owns a 3-1 record over Georgia State in games played in Cullowhee.  The Panthers enter Tuesday's game with a 1-3 overall record, having lost to Arizona; Florida State; and Appy State.  GSU's lone win thus far was over the one common opponent to both teams this year, the Campbell Camels.  While the Cats had to traveled to Buies Creek and lost 59-43, GSU played host to Campbell and pulled off a 70-56 win last Friday over the Camels. For more information on the GSU game, follow the link below.


Game #7 - Georgia State

WBB: Upcoming games

Courtesy WCU Sports

Scanning the SoCon - Week Four

Scanning the SoCon - Week Four


My SoCon Rankings
1. Davidson
2. Charleston
3. Wofford
4. Elon
5. Western Carolina
6. Appy State
7. Chattanooga
8. Ga Southern
9. UNCG
10. Citadel
11. Furman
12. Samford

MBB: Cats win

Courtesy FAMU

South Padre Island, Texas - The Catamounts picked up a 62-46 win over Florida A&M in their finale of the 2011 South Padre Island Invitational.

"Today was a good team win for us. I am proud of the way our guys responded to what went on in our team meetings last night - I challenged them pretty good," said WCU head coach Larry Hunter. "I was really proud of our effort and our energy - I really didn't have to coach energy today. And, when I went to our bench, I got production - those were a couple of things I thought were really big for us."

The Cats will open conference play next Thursday night at Samford, in a 8:00 pm ET tip-off.

WBB: Cats win road trip

Cookeville, TN - The Cats came from behind to defeat Tennessee Tech, 61-58 at the Eblen Center in Cookeville, Tenn.  Menendez and Abraham led the Catamounts with 12 points each, as the Cats out rebounded Tech 40 to 34.

Western Carolina returns to the Ramsey Center at 7 p.m. Tuesday hosting the Georgia State Panthers.

MBB: Northern Colorado

South Padre Island, Texas - The Cats did something that's become familiar. They lost, this time to Northern Colorado, a team that entered the game with an 0-4 record. Final score, 74-57.

I don't know what's happened to this team, but it's going to be a long, long season.

Happy Thanksgiving

Basketball: Basketball at WCU implodes

Both the men's and women's teams lost on Tuesday night, and neither game was nearly as close as either score might indicate. The women's team, after starting the season with a promising 3-0 start, has dropped two games straight to Big South opponents, most recently Coastal Carolina (66-56) prior to the Campbell loss (59-43). The men's team has been totally dominated in the first two games of the South Padre Island Invitational by two Iowa teams.   First it was Iowa State by a score of 92-60, then two days later, by Northern Iowa 59-39. These two losses, combined with a season opening beat-down, by a young South Carolina team, does not bode well for the Catamounts' 2011-12 season.

SoCon Football All Freshman Team

Warren

Clark

Cullowhee, NC - Catamount running back Shaun Warren and defensive back Ace Clark were selected to the SoCon Football All-Freshman Team as voted on by the league's head coaches. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players in the voting process.

Warren led the Catamounts with 454 rushing yards on the year, averaging five yards per carry, seeing action in 10 of the 11 games, with three starts. Clark finished this season with 90 tackles. including 50 solo stops ranking him second on the squad. Clark recorded three pass break-ups on the season in his 10 appearances in the starting lineup.  Congratulations to both of the fine young Catamounts from the Purple & Gold.

Basketball: Both teams play Tuesday

The men's team travels to Northern Iowa as part of the South Padre Island Invitational, as the women host Coastal Carolina in the Ramsey Center. Both teams are coming off losses, and hope to get back in the winning column on Tuesday.  The women's game tip-off is at 7 pm (EST) while the men's tip-off is at 8 pm (EST). Follow the links below for more information on both games.


Game #5 - Northern Iowa

Game #5 - Coastal Carolina

MBB: Cats fall at Iowa State

The Catamounts fell to Iowa State by a final score of 60-92 on Sunday in the first round of The South Padre Island Invitational. The hot shooting Cyclones were 11-of-18 as a team from 3-point range and shot 65% from the field.  The big advantage though was in rebounding, where the Cyclones held a 34 to 16 advantage.  Iowa State also picked up 23 points off turnovers, as well as 27 points off the bench, compared to the Cats' 13 and 11 respectively.

MBB: PC beats #20 Cincinnati

Yep, the very same Presbyterian basketball team that our Cats beat 80-73 on Thursday, pulled off a major upset on the road Saturday night over nationally ranked (#20) Cincinnati, by a score of 56-54. Congrats to them, it just makes the Cats win over them even better.

A day of losing

Cullowhee, NC - Saturday, November 19 will go down as a very bad day for Catamount athletics. Every Catamount team that played Saturday, lost Saturday. Women's basketball lost to Campbell (Big South), volleyball lost in the first round of the SoCon volleyball tournament to Furman, and of course the football team lost (big time) to Coastal Carolina (Big South). Since we already know how to lose to teams in the SoCon, I guess we're learning now how to lose to teams in the Big South too.

The 2011 Southern Conference Volleyball Championship

The 2011 Southern Conference Volleyball Championship will take place on Saturday, November 19th through Monday, November 21st in Samford University's Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham, Alabama.

Western Carolina volleyball (No. 3 seed) will face Furman (No. 2 seed) in the first round at 5:30 pm on Saturday November 19th.

South Padre Island Invitational

The South Padre Island Invitational is one of college basketball's elite Thanksgiving tournaments, held in South Padre Island, Texas. The field of eight teams includes Western Carolina, Iowa State, Northern Iowa, Rice, Northern Colorado, Southern University, Florida A&M, and Providence.

Each team will play four games- the first two at campus sites, and the final two rounds at the South Padre Island Convention Center on beautiful South Padre Island, Texas on November 25-26.  Western Carolina will play Iowa State (Nov 20) & Northern Iowa (Nov 22) in first round action, prior to the two rounds at South Padre Island (Nov 25-26).

MBB: Cats handle PC, 80-73

Clinton, S.C. - The Catamounts won their eight straight game over the Presbyterian Blue Hose Thursday night in Clinton, SC. The Cats were lead my Harouna Matombo with a game high of 20 points to put away the Big South foe by a score of 80-73.

With this win the Cats improve to 2-1 on the season and will open play in the South Padre Island Invitational on Sunday.

Catamount Football Reunion

Make your plans to attend, your support is needed now more than ever

Catamount Fooball Today

Catamount Football Today is now on line, with Daniel Hooker and Coach Rhea.   Follow the link below.




Catamount Football Today

MBB: Cats travel to PC

Cullowhee, NC - The Catamounts travel to Clinton, SC on Thursday night to take on Big South foe, Presbyterian College at 7:30 pm.  The Blue Hose are 1-1 on the season after losing to Duke, and beating Eastern Kentucky.  For more information on the game, follow the link below.


Game #3 - Presbyterian College

WBB: Cats climb to 3-0

Cullowhee, NC - Western Carolina opens the season 3-0 for the first time since 2003, beating mountain rival UNC Asheville 65-53 Wednesday in the Ramsey Center. Kaila'Shea Menendez led all scorers with 17 points and Caitlin Hollifield completed a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

The Cats travel to Campbell on Saturday for a 1 p.m. tip-off with the Fighting Camels. 

VB: Glover Named SoCon Coach of the Year

Spartanburg, SC - First-year head coach, Karen Glover, was selected as the 2011 SoCon Volleyball Coach of the Year. Glover led the Catamounts to an 8-8 mark in SoCon play and a third place seed in the North Division.  The Cats were predicted to finish last in the preseason voting.

"It was really a great honor as there are a lot of great coaches in the SoCon," said head coach Karen Glover. "I would also like to thank my assistant John Brannon because we definitely would not be in this position without all of his hard work. Also, the players have been amazing this year to work with, and I attribute this award to them."

The 13 overall wins by the Cats are the most for a WCU volleyball team since 2003 when WCU won 16 matches. Glover is the second Catamount coach to be named SoCon Volleyball Coach of the Year as Trish Howell was the first, back in 1983.

WBB: Bulldogs visit Cullowhee

Cullowhee, NC - On Wednesday, the UNC Asheville Bulldogs travel the short distance to Cullowhee to renew the mountain series. The Catamounts currently lead the series 33-12, and has won the last two meetings between the teams.  Asheville brings a 1-0 record, with a lone win over Div II,  Winston-Salem State, 83-74. Bulldog Kelli Riles is the player to watch for Asheville, she scored 21 points and a career-high 24 rebounds in Asheville's win over W-S State last Saturday.   For more game information, please follow the link below.

Game #3 - UNC Asheville

MBB: Hunter gets win #600

Cullowhee, NC - Head Basketball Coach Larry Hunter picked up win number 600 tonight in the Ramsey Center when the Catamounts rolled over the Montreat College Cavaliers by a score of 109 - 63.  Hunter becomes just the 61 coach to reach the 600 win plateau.

Hunter's teams have posted winning records in 26 of his 31 seasons as a head coach, and he now has an overall record of 600-325 and enters the 2011-12 season as the 11th winningest active coach in the country.

WBB: Cats over CSU, now 2-0

Cullowhee, NC - The Catamounts kept its winning record over Charleston Southern intact Monday night in the Ramsey Center, defeating the Buccaneers 69-65. The Cats are now 6-0 against CSU.  Alex Abraham and Caitlin Hollifieldled lead the Catamounts with 14 points each, while Kaila'Shea Menendez added 12 points and freshman Ali Lane put up 11 points. The Cats shot a hot 60% on field goals, which was needed as Coastal hit a total of 11 from three point range.

Football Reunion scheduled for November 18-19

Make your plans to attend, your support is needed now more than ever