Spartans pick up crucial road win with 62-54 win over Wofford

SPARTANBURG, SC – UNC Greensboro had three players in doubles figures and extended its win streak to two with a 62-54 win over Wofford in women’s basketball action at Johnson Arena on Monday night.

UNCG (13-7, 6-3) was led by senior guard Jasmine Byrd, who had 26 points on 8-of-14 shooting. KaLeah Latham had a double-doubles with a team-high 10 rebounds and 10 points.

“This was a crucial road win for us”, head coach Lynne Agee said. “This was a win that we had to grind out from beginning to end and I’m pleased with the defensive effort that our team gave down the stretch. We knew we had to keep our focus at the end and we did a nice job of maintaining it until the end.”

Wofford (9-10, 3-6) was led by Liz Miller who had 16 points and Kelsi Koening who had eight rebounds.

The Spartans started the second half with a bucket, taking their second lead of the game at 29-28.  Wofford responded by forcing a turnover but stingy defense by UNCG forced a Wofford turnover on the next possession. The teams began to trade buckets again before UNCG jumped out to a 36-30 lead at the 16:17 mark.

The Spartans began to find their offense, extending their lead 40-32 behind baskets from Meghan Chamberlain and Byrd, but Wofford was able to get a bucket on the inside cutting the UNCG lead to six-points with just under 14 minutes to play.

Wofford was able to capitalize on several UNCG turnovers prompting a 6-0 Wofford run to cut the lead to two points with just under 11 minutes remaining in the game. Boone was able to extend the lead to five with a three ball at the 7:37 mark.  Wofford’s Kelly Dwywer cut the lead to two with a long two-pointer. A bucket by Brittany Frazier and a foul pushed the UNCG lead back to five, but the Terriers responded with another bucket to bring it back to a three point game with four minutes remaining. Wofford was able to cut it to five with 30 seconds left, but UNCG free throws led the Spartans to their eighth consecutive win over the Terriers.

UNCG started the game slowly, winning the tip and then promptly turning the ball over twice in the first minute of play. Wofford was able to capitalize on the early Spartan miscues by taking an early 2-0 lead on a Wofford bucket. Latham was able to give the Spartans a little momentum by hitting a bucket in the paint to cut the Wofford lead to two-points, with just under 18 minutes.

Wofford hit a three to take an early 7-4 lead at the 16:54 mark. The Terriers extended their lead to five with a quick bucket in the paint, but Jasmine Byrd got the Spartans back in it with a long three to cut the lead to two points and a bucket by Boone tied the game at nine all with just under 14 minutes remaining in the half.

The teams traded buckets for the next several minutes before Wofford took a 22-17 lead behind a bucket in the paint and free throws at the 7:30 mark. Kristen Boone tried to give UNCG some momentum hitting a jumper and then forcing a turnover on the other end to cut the lead to 22-19, but it was the Terriers that went on the run jumping out to a 26-19 lead. UNCG was able to cut the lead to one at halftime behind back-to-back three-pointers by Jasmine Byrd, giving Wofford a 28-27 advantage at the break.

UNCG shot 40 percent from the floor on 12-of-30 shooting and pulled down 25 rebounds. Byrd led the Spartans from the floor shooting 57.1 percent including 50 percent from behind the arc, hitting 3-of-6 three-pointers.

The Spartans return to Fleming Gymnasium Jan. 27 when they take on league-leader Davidson in a game televised by CSS. The women will play game one of a doubleheader with the tip time set for 3 pm.

AGATE
UNC GREENSBORO 62, WOFFORD 54

UNC GREENSBORO (13-7, 6-3 SoCon)
Byrd, Jasmine 8-14 6-6 26; Boone, Kristen 4-11 2-4 11; Latham, Kaleah 4-7 2-4 10; Otamiri, Irene 3-9 0-0 6; Chamberlain, Meghan 2-5 0-1 4; Frazier,Brittany 1-2 1-1 3; Grimsley, Gini 0-3 2-2 2; Ling, Ashley 0-0 0-0 0;Brooks, Kemena 0-0 0-0 0; Hyson, Lakiah 0-1 0-0 0; Dixon, Jasmine 0-1 0-1 0. Totals 22-53 13-19 62.

WOFFORD (9-10, 3-6 SoCon)
MILLER, Liz 4-12 5-7 16; KOENIG, Kelsi 5-10 1-5 11; DEPKO, Laura 2-3 3-4 7; NICHOLS, Summer 2-7 2-2 6; YEE, Mary Jo 1-4 1-2 4; WEURDING, Jennifer 2-8 0-0 4; GRAMBLIN, Natalie 1-1 1-2 3; DWYER, Kelly 1-2 0-0 2; DEMPSEY, Kate 0-4 1-2 1; PAUL, Susanna 0-0 0-0 0; VARNO, Kathlyn 0-1 0-0 0; CORRELL, K.C. 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 18-54 14-24 54.

Halftime: Wofford 28-27. 3-point goals--UNC Greensboro 5-12 (Byrd, Jasmine 4-8; Boone, Kristen 1-1; Otamiri, Irene 0-2; Grimsley, Gini 0-1), Wofford 4-17 (MILLER, Liz 3-7; YEE, Mary Jo 1-4; WEURDING, Jennifer 0-1; DWYER, Kelly 0-1; CORRELL, K.C. 0-2; KOENIG, Kelsi 0-2). Fouled out--UNC Greensboro-None, Wofford-None. Rebounds--UNC Greensboro 43 (Latham, Kaleah 10), Wofford 34 (KOENIG, Kelsi 8). Assists--UNC Greensboro 12 (Otamiri, Irene 4; Boone, Kristen 4), Wofford 10 (MILLER, Liz 4). Total fouls--UNC Greensboro 22, Wofford 21. Technical fouls--UNC Greensboro-None, Wofford-None. A-181

- UNCG -