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HAMMOND, La. -- Junior Kate Dempsey hit a put-back with 3.1 seconds remaining and senior Kelsi Koenig returned to her home state recording her sixth career double-double, including second in three games this season, as the Wofford women's basketball team survived a late Southeastern Louisiana second half rally for a 69-68 victory Tuesday evening inside University Arena in Hammond, La.
Dempsey capped her career-best outing by retrieving the rebound off a missed free throw by teammate Liz Miller and using the glass for the put-back to give the Terriers their first road win of the season. The missed charity toss was Miller's first of the season, snapping a streak of 16 straight dating back to the Southern Conference Tournament game last March.
Dempsey scored 13 of her 15 points in the second half as Wofford (2-1) kept feeding her in the low post taking advantage of her height advantage against the smaller Lady Lions. Contributing to her efforts was a 22-5 edge on assists by the Terriers, including a career-high seven by junior Summer Nichols and a season-best six by Miller.
Koenig started the game on fire, registering 11 of the team's first 15 points, including her only 3-pointer of the contest. The Mandeville, La., native was playing in front of over 100 friends and family who came to witness the game and make the 29-mile trek down I-12. She did not disappoint, totaling a game-high 18 points and 10 rebounds for her sixth career double-double, along with two assists and one steal in 30 minutes before fouling out with 1:20 remaining.
Sophomore Natalie Gramblin came off the bench and also gave Wofford a spark, posting a career-best nine points, including a couple of second half 3-pointers, on her birthday. Freshman Mahagony Williams hauled in a career-high seven rebounds and sophomore Kelly Dwyer recorded all four of the Terriers' blocked shots, setting a new career best.
The game featured a back-and-forth affair throughout much of the opening 24 minutes, including a 34-34 deadlock at halftime. Kristy Carlin put Southeastern Louisiana (2-2) up two, 41-39, at the 16:30 mark of the second half before the Wofford defense clamped down and held the Lady Lions without a field goal until she scored again with 5:20 to play.
The Terriers used the 11:10 minute period to build a 13-point margin, on a 15-0 surge, on Gramblin's free throw at the 8:02 mark. However, the Lady Lions would climb back thanks to numerous fouls being called and using the free throw line to their advantage. Southeastern finished the game 33-of-46 from the line compared to a 10-of-23 outing for Wofford.
Following a Terrier technical with 2:18 to play, the Lady Lions' leading scorer entering the tilt, Brooke Necaise hit both free throws to bring them within two, 65-63. Koenig hit her final point of the evening on the line a short time later, but four more points at the charity stripe gave Southeastern its first lead, 67-66, with :56 seconds to play since Carlin's field goal at 16:30.
Necaise made 1-of-2 at the line with :18 seconds left to push the lead to two before Miller's free throw and Dempsey's put-back capped the thrilling victory.
Carlin paced the Lady Lions with 17 points, while Zevy Ivory had 13, Necaise finished with 12 and Bethany Sinclair added 11. Ten of Necaise's 12 points were via the foul line as Wofford limited her to 1-of-9 from the field, including 0-of-5 from behind the 3-point arc.
Jameica Gross grabbed a team-high eight boards, but the Terriers won the battle on the glass, 42-39.
Wofford will take a week off for the Thanksgiving holiday before returning to action in one week, Nov. 27, against Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. It will mark the first of two games this season against Atlantic Coast Conference foes for the Terriers. They will also travel to Chapel Hill, N.C., for a Dec. 9 meeting against nationally-ranked North Carolina.
