Emily Clarke is the veteran of the Western Carolina Catamounts and has experienced varying results in the Southern Conference basketball tournament.
After playing on the runner-up team as a freshman and the championship squad as a sophomore, Clarke and the Catamounts were opening-round casualties a year ago. The 5-foot-10 senior guard from Snellville, Ga., made sure there would be no repeat of last season by scoring a game-high 14 points Thursday afternoon to pace a 48-42 defeat of Georgia Southern in the tournament opener at McKenzie Arena.
“My career has definitely been up and down, but coming into this tournament we all knew that it was a blank slate and that everybody came in here 0-0,” Clarke said. “It’s either go big or go home, so everybody has to show up to play and believe they can beat anybody in this league.”
Clarke, who scored 18 points in the 2009 title game when WCU outlasted the College of Charleston in three overtimes, had 12 in the first half Thursday as the Catamounts built a 24-19 lead. The Lady Eagles overcame a 4-of-18 shooting performance in the first half to take a 38-37 lead with 5:44 left on a Krista Tate layup, but they didn’t score again until a Tate layup with 58 seconds to play pulled them within 44-40.
Western Carolina racked up 39 rebounds to 25 by Georgia Southern (12-18).
“That has been the backbone of what we have done this year,” WCU coach Karen Middleton said. “Defense and rebounding are what we’ve relied on.”
The Catamounts (9-21) face Samford (22-7) this morning at 9, which will be 18 hours after Thursday’s horn sounded.
“We’ve talked about getting off our feet, ice baths, and getting food in us,” Middleton said. “We’ve played Samford twice, so we’re obviously familiar with what they do.”
Said Clarke: “I’m laying in bed the rest of the day.”