GREENSBORO, NC – Wofford tried to spoil UNC Greensboro’s Senior Night, but UNCG had other ideas and went a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line and connected on two three-pointers in overtime to defeat Wofford, 71-66 in women’s basketball action at Fleming Gymnasium Monday night.
The Spartans ran their unbeaten streak to six games and closed out the home schedule with three consecutive wins.
UNCG had four players in doubles figures and was led by junior Brittany Frazier, who had a career-high 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field. KaLeah Latham added seven rebounds and Kristen Boone had a game-high four steals.
“This was a hard-fought game,“ head coach Lynne Agee said. “We know that Wofford is a good shooting team and having just beaten Davidson in overtime on Saturday we knew that they had some momentum. I thought that we were sluggish at points but we were able to play scrappy enough get our hands on enough balls and come away with the win.”
Wofford was led by Jennifer Weurding who had 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting. Kelly Dwyer and Kelsi Koening were also in doubles figures for the Terriers with 11 and 12 points, respectively.
UNCG (20-8, 13-4) was down 61-59 with thirty-five seconds left in regulation but a jumper by Boone from the left side tied the game and a missed Wofford three-pointer sent the game into overtime.
In overtime, Wofford (13-14, 7-10) took a one-point lead on a free-throw but a foul on the next possession sent Irene Otamiri to the free throw line where she converted the pair. Sophomore Gini Grimsley put UNCG up three points with a three-pointer but Wofford was able to cut it to two with free throws.
The Spartans got a three-pointer from Jasmine Byrd to push their lead to 69-64 with 1:13 left to play and a steal by Grimsley coupled with free throws from Frazier sealed the win.
UNCG started the game sluggish and allowed Wofford to take an early lead in the games opening minutes. Senior Jasmine Byrd was able to get UNCG back on track with a long two through the right side, although the teams traded buckets on the next several possessions, keeping the lead from becoming more than two-points either way.
The Spartans were able to get out to an 8-4 lead behind buckets from Byrd and Frazier and were able to extend their lead to 15-7 behind several key buckets from Frazier.
“I was extremely pleased with the way that Brittan Frazier played tonight,” Agee said. “She really stepped up and hit some big shots for us. She was playing with confidence and it really showed tonight.”
Wofford was able to get back in the game when UNCG went cold midway through the half---going nearly four minutes without a field goal. Latham ended UNCG’s scoring drought with a bucket in the paint, but Wofford closed the half on a 10-7 run and went into the lockeroom with a 27-26 advantage.
The Spartans started the second half on a 9-4 run to take a 35-31 lead at the 17:21 mark but Wofford wouldn’t go away and tied the game at 35 with back-to-back buckets in the paint. The teams exchanged buckets for the better part of the half, which featured nine ties and eight lead changes, and it was Wofford with a one-point lead with a minute left to play.
The Terriers were able to hit one more bucket to extend their lead to two-points with thirty-five seconds left before Boone hit a jumper to force overtime.
The Spartans, who picked up their 20th win of the season, close out the regular season Feb. 24 when they head to Cullowhee to take on Western Carolina.
AGATE
UNCG 71, WOFFORD 66
WOFFORD (13-14,7-10 SoCon)
WEURDING, Jennifer 6-13 0-0 14; KOENIG, Kelsi 5-8 1-3 12; DWYER,
Kelly 5-6 0-0 11; MILLER, Liz 3-9 2-3 9; CORRELL, K.C. 2-4 3-4 7;
YEE, Mary Jo 2-3 0-0 5; DEMPSEY, Kate 2-4 0-0 4; VARNO, Kathlyn 2-2
0-0 4; PAUL, Susanna 0-3 0-0 0; DEPKO, Laura 0-0 0-0 0; GRAMBLIN,
Natalie 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-53 6 10 66.
UNCG (20-8, 13-4 SoCon)
Frazier, Brittany 9-13 2-2 20; Byrd, Jasmine 5-19 0-0 13; Boone,
Kristen 4-8 3-3 12; Otamiri, Irene 4-12 2-2 10; Brooks, Kemena 2-5
0-0 5; Latham, Kaleah 1-7 2-2 4; Ling, Ashley 2-2 0-0 4; Grimsley,
Gini 1-5 0-0 3; Hyson, Lakiah 0-0 0-0 0; Dixon, Jasmine 0-1 0-0 0.
Totals 28-72 9-9 71.
Halftime: Wofford 27-26. Regulation: 61-61. 3-point goals--Wofford 6-15 (WEURDING, Jennifer 2-6; YEE, Mary Jo 1-2; MILLER, Liz 1-4; KOENIG, Kelsi 1-1; DWYER, Kelly 1-2), UNCG 6-25 (Byrd, Jasmine 3-14; Brooks, Kemena 1-2; Grimsley, Gini 1-2; Boone, Kristen 1-2; Latham, Kaleah 0-1; Otamiri, Irene 0-4). Fouled out--Wofford-None, UNCG-Latham, Kaleah. Rebounds--Wofford 38 (WEURDING, Jennifer 7; CORRELL, K.C. 7), UNCG 34 (Latham, Kaleah 7). Assists--Wofford 15 (MILLER, Liz 5), UNCG 17 (Boone, Kristen 8). Total fouls--Wofford 15, UNCG 14. Technical fouls--Wofford-None, UNCG-None. A-287
- UNCG -