Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina women’s basketball and head coach Jonathan Tsipis take to Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center in official competition for the first time Monday evening as the Catamounts host Warren Wilson College to open the 2024-25 season.
A week after holding its final intrasquad scrimmage action at the “Basketball on the Boundary” event in Cherokee, WCU and the Owls tip-off at 5 p.m. in the frontend of a season-opening Catamount hoops doubleheader with the men’s squad. The men’s team will be led out of the tunnel by fellow first-year head coach Tim Craft in its opening tilt with Bob Jones University at 7:30 p.m. Both season openers will be streamed on ESPN+ (paid subscription required). Additionally, Catamount fans can listen to both games on the Catamount Sports Network with pre-game coverage beginning at 4:45 p.m. for the women’s game and 7 p.m. ahead of the men’s game.
Monday’s Women’s Basketball Matchup:
Western Carolina (0-0) vs Warren Wilson (0-0)
Nov. 4, 2024 | Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center | Cullowhee, N.C. | 5 p.m.
Live Stats: https://tinyurl.com/yzx5bwn4
Radio: https://tinyurl.com/8c642zsk
Watch (ESPN+): https://tinyurl.com/rrnd8y7h
Fresh and Familiar Faces:
The Catamounts are led by first-year head coach Jonathan Tsipis who came to Cullowhee by way of the Marquette Golden Eagles. Tsipis has had two previous stops as an NCAA Division I head coach, leading the George Washington Revolutionaries from 2012-16 and the Wisconsin Badgers from 2016-21. Tsipis’ squads have a 7-2 record in season openers with the only blemishes coming in 2014 and 2016. The Catamounts have won their last three season openers with the last loss coming in 2020.
Tsipis is joined by associate head coach Alison Seberger, who joined the Catamounts after a two-year stint at UAB. Seberger is flanked by assistant coaches Darius Barksdale, Danielle Rauch, and Sydney Lowery. The trio of coaches join the Catamounts after runs at Marquette, Clemson, and Florida State, respectively.
The Catamounts on the court have a few new faces as well as Tsipis brought in two transfers and two true freshmen in Avyonce “AC” Carter (Georgia Tech) and Grace Pack (Gardner-Webb) with first-year Catamounts Taj Hunter (Grayson High) out of Atlanta and Kennedy Hilsenroth (Northwest Cabarrus High) from Concord, N.C.
While there are plenty of new faces in Cullowhee, there are familiar ones as well with the Purple and Gold. Southern Conference All-Freshman team selection Tyja Beans is joined by Jada Burton, Chelsea Wooten, Zanoria Cruz, Nicole Azar, Erin Stack, and Reagan Trumm from last year’s squad. Beans, Burton, Wooten, and Cruz all recorded 650+ minutes of game action last season and will look to utilize that critical experience. Wooten returns as WCU’s leading scorer after averaging 10.2 points per game last season, followed by Cruz (8.1 ppg) and Beans (7.1 ppg).
Additionally, redshirt sophomore Kehinde Obasuyi looks to return to game action for the first time since the 2022-23 season.
Full Court Press:
The Catamounts face the Warren Wilson Owls for the third time in program history, leading the series 2-0 with the NCAA D-II opponent. The last meeting came in 2018 resulting in a 114-54 Catamount victory. The Owls posted a 1-26 record last season with the lone victory coming against Bob Jones.
Leading Owls scorers Moosie Lewis and Weronica Swojak return after averaging 15.8 and 13.3 points per game last season, respectively. Swojak also led the team in rebounds by a significant margin, collecting 343 rebounds last season.
Next Time Out:
The Catamounts continue their season-opening homestand as they host the Campbell Fighting Camels on Thursday, Nov. 7, with a 6 p.m. start on Ingles Court at the Ramsey Center. WCU then hits the road for six straight games to close out November before returning home for an Education Day matchup with Gardner-Webb on Dec. 6.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount women’s basketball and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@catamounts, Catamountwbb).
