#8 Women’s Basketball records season-high 18 steals in loss at UVA Wise

Wise, Va. —- The 8th-ranked Catawba College women's basketball team set a season-high with 18 steals on the road at UVA Wise on Saturday afternoon, but were unable to convert them into a victory, falling to the Cavaliers 81-71 at the David J. Prior Convocation Center in South Atlantic Conference action.

TEAM STATS

- UVA Wise shot 28-of-63 (44 percent) from the field; Catawba was 26-for-77 (34 percent) on the afternoon

- The Cavaliers made seven of 21 (33 percent) three-point attempts, while the Catawba Indians were 7-for-34 (21 percent) from deep

- Wise was 18-for-21 (86 percent) from the free throw line; Catawba went 12-of-15 (80 percent) from the charity stripe

- The Cavaliers out-rebounded the Catawba Indians 59-32, leading to a 17-7 advantage in second-chance points

- UVA Wise recorded 19 assists to 29 turnovers, while Catawba had 12 assists to 15 turnovers

- The Catawba Indians recorded a season-high 18 steals, but were only able to take an 18-13 advantage in points off turnovers

- Catawba held advantage in bench points (15-5) and points in the paint (36-30); the Cavaliers held a slight 16-13 advantage in fast break points

- UVA Wise led for 39:46

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Lyrik Thorne once again led the Catawba Indians in scoring with 16 points and six assists

- Janiya Downs added 14 points and six rebounds

- Jada Porter continued her hot-shooting stretch, hitting four three-pointers for 12 points, six rebounds and three steals

- Sara McIntosh chipped in nine points, four boards and three steals

- Nala Baker scored five points and recorded a team-high five steals

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST QUARTER

- UVA Wise scored the game's first two baskets to take an early 4-0 advantage

- The Cavaliers led 11-3 after Leah Ketner's layup

- Back-to-back Thorne layups cut Catawba's deficit in half in a up-and-down first few minutes

- Wise countered with a quick 6-0 run to take a double-digit lead at 17-7

- The Catawba Indians once again cut their deficit in half behind a Porter three-pointer and a Downs lay-in with under three to go

- A late Cavs' jumper gave the hosts a 24-16 lead after 10 minutes

SECOND QUARTER

- Back-to-back Downs jumpers capped an 8-0 Catawba run to cut the deficit all the way down to two points at the 6:19 mark

- The Cavaliers responded with 13 unanswered points, taking a 39-24 lead with just over three minutes to play in the opening half

- Janiya Foskey's jumper cut the deficit to 11 with under a minute to go

- A Wise free throw made it a 42-30 Cavalier advantage at the break

THIRD QUARTER

- A quick Thorne three-pointer got the lead under double digits in the opening minute of the second half

- UVA Wise answered with a quick 5-0 run to return their lead to 14 points

- Neither team was able to make much of a run in the frame, as the Wise lead never got below nine or above 13 points the rest of the quarter, as the Cavaliers led 60-49 heading into the final 10 minutes

FOURTH QUARTER

- Thorne's three-pointer at the 8:33 mark trimmed Catawba's deficit to six points

- Baker's triple got the difference all the way down to 64-61, the closest the game had been since midway through the second quarter

- UVA Wise countered with a 7-0 run of their own to return their lead to double digits at the 4:08 mark

- Thorne's jumper and Porter's three-pointer immediately returned the Wise lead to 71-66 with three minutes to go

- The Cavs once again answered with back-to-back buckets to half the Catawba Indian momentum

- Porter canned another three-pointer at the 1:55 mark to cut the deficit to six, but Catawba never got closer, as UVA Wise held on for the 81-71 victory

UP NEXT

- The Catawba Indians look to bounce back on the road next week, traveling to Gaffney, S.C. on Wednesday to take on Limestone at 5:30 p.m.