Davidson Welcomes Western Carolina to Belk Arena on Saturday For PinkZone Game

DAVIDSON, N.C. — Looking to avenge a defeat to Western Carolina earlier this year, Davidson will host the Catamounts on Saturday afternoon for its annual PinkZone game at Belk Arena in women's basketball action.

The Opening Tip
Davidson (10-11, 5-7 SoCon) sits in 7th in the league standings and is looking for a split with WCU (6-15, 4-8 SoCon), which is a game back, when the Wildcats tip off vs. the Catamounts on Saturday, Feb. 5, with a 2 p.m. contest.

PinkZone Promotion
The Davidson Women's basketball team is also hosting their 4th annual WBCA Pink Zone Game for Breast Cancer Awareness on Saturday. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.

For more details on all the days events, click here on PinkZone.

The All-Time Series/Last Meeting
The all-time series has WCU leading the all-time series at 25-19. The Catamounts took the first meeting this year, 60-48, in Cullowhee, N.C.

In that first meeting, Davidson put three scorers in double digits, led by Laura Murray's 15 points, but dropped a 12-point decision on the road as it shot just 31.7 percent.

Davidson is 9-11 all-time at home vs. WCU and has won four of the last six meetings at Belk Arena.

Scouting the Wildcats
•Davidson nearly pulled off an upset of league-leader Appalachian State on Wednesday, falling just short in an 83-73 defeat, halting its four-game win streak.
•The 'Cats led 45-29 at halftime, but were unable to hold the lead. The 45 points were a season-best for a first half and they hit 8-of-9 shots from downtown.
•Freshman Laura Murray (11.8 ppg-2nd on team) lit up the nets for a season-best 27 points, going a perfect 7-of-7 from three-land to set a new Wildcat single-game percentage mark. Jennifer O'Brien held the previous mark when she went 5-of-5 vs. Georgia Southern, Dec. 12, 1999.
•The freshman had 19 in the first half and has registered three 20-point outings this year.
•Murray and Sophia Aleksandravicius are averaging 13 and 18.4 points per game, respectively, at home.
•Four Wildcats in all scored in double figures at ASU, the sixth time this season.
•Aleksandravicius (17.2 ppg-2nd in SoCon / 7.8 rpg-3rd in SoCon) had her 13 straight game scoring in double figures with 17 points and added four blocks to give her 70 on the year.
•Senior Ashley Lax (8.2 ppg) along with Murray helped the Wildcats to a season-best 10 three-pointers at ASU, hitting three in the first half.
•Amanda Ottaway went a career-best 8-for-8 at the charity stripe on her way to 10 points on Wednesday. It was the junior's second career double-figure game, both coming this year.
•Davidson continues to rank first in the league in defensive field goal percentage at .372.
•Fellow junior Kristen Johnsen is second in the SoCon in field goal percentage at .548.
•The Wildcats rank 18th in the nation in free throw percentage at .756 as of Jan. 30.
•In Davidson's nine home games this year, its shooting 40.4 percent from the field and 72.3 from the charity stripe, while outscoring the opposition 65-59.
•The game vs. WCU is just the second in a 10-game span that the Wildcats are at home. They are in a stretch that started at Wofford, Jan. 22, where they play eight of 10 games on the road.
•Speaking of stretches, Saturday's game is also the third of seven in a 15-day span.
•The Wildcats were picked to finish 6th in the SoCon in both the media and coaches polls.
•Last year's home contest vs. WCU saw Aleksandravicius pour in 22 points to go with 10 boards and Alex Thompson also had a double-double (10 points/10 rebounds) in a 75-65 win.

Scouting the Catamounts
•Western Carolina, off since Monday, dropped a 62-36 game to Appalachian State for its fourth straight loss. WCU is just 3-7 in its last 10 games and 1-6 since last playing Davidson on Jan. 5.
•Western was held to 30 percent shooting vs. ASU as Caitlin Hollifield was the lone Catamount to score in double figures with 12 points and she added nine boards.
•Hollifield is second behind Kaila'Shea Menendez (10.5 ppg) in scoring at 9.8 ppg. The forward had 11 points last time out vs. the Wildcats.
•Janae McKinney ranks sixth in the league in rebounding at 6.7 and paces the SoCon with nearly three offensive boards a game (league-best 65).
•The Catamounts are second-to-last in scoring at 55.9 ppg, while allowing 66.1 to their opponents.
•In their 60-48 win last meeting vs. Davidson, WCU put three players in double figures.
•Emily Clarke led the team with 14 points and over the last three meetings is averaging 16 points vs. the 'Cats.
•She had 22 in the last meeting at Belk Arena, shooting 9-of-21 with three treys. She paces the team this year with 37 triples.
•Western is 3-6 on the road, 1-4 vs. the SoCon. It has dropped its last five straight on the road, with the Catamounts last win coming at Elon, Dec. 18, a 74-64 victory.
•The Catamounts were picked to finish seventh behind Davidson in the coaches preseason poll.
•WCU returns five of its 12 letterwinners and two of its three starters from a season ago.

A Look Ahead
The Wildcats head back on the road, traveling to College of Charleston, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m.

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