Box Score Box Score
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- The Wofford women's basketball team returned from a 10-day break to celebrate the holidays and came away with a 58-44 home victory Saturday afterooon against North Florida inside the Benjamin Johnson Arena in Spartanburg, S.C. The win was the Terriers' fourth straight overall and second in a row against the Lady Ospreys, after earning a victory against them Dec. 19 in the final of the UNF Holiday Classic in Jacksonville, Fla.
Senior Kelsi Koenig returned to the Wofford (7-4) lineup for the first time in over a month after being sidelined with an injury. While she missed both of her field goal attempts, she did convert on all six free throws and added five rebounds and a steal in 13 minutes of action.
The game started with the Terriers taking a 4-0 lead, which they then pushed to 11-4 behind a 3-pointer by freshman Ashley Kroker and the first set of charity tosses from Koenig at 11:30. North Florida (4-7), however, would battle back as Jennifer Guldager hit a pair of free throws following a Wofford technical and then Shandrea Moore nailed a triple of her own on the ensuing possession to cut the deficit to one, 12-11, with 9:27 left in the half.
The teams traded baskets and Moore's layup on a steal in the backcourt knotted the score at 15-15, marking the final time it would be tied. Terrier posts, sophomore Kathlyn Varno fed freshman Mahagony Williams for a go-ahead layup that would give Wofford a 17-15 edge at 7:25, a lead it would not relinquish the remainder of the contest. The bucket also kick-started a 15-8 run over the remainder of the half as the Terriers took a 30-23 advantage into the break.
Seven-straight Wofford points opened the second stanza, including a top-of-the-key 3-pointer by junior Liz Miller in between a pair of made shots from classmate Summer Nichols which enabled the Terriers to push its lead to 14, 37-23, at 15:11.
UNF trimmed the gap back to 11, 37-26, but then Wofford used a 14-2 spurt over the next four-and-a-half minutes to take its largest lead of 23, 51-28. A steal and fast break layup by sophomore Natalie Gramblin and her made free throw after being fouled on the play capped the run at 7:43.
The Lady Ospreys responded by netting the next six points, but Gramblin halted that streak with a trey of her own. Koenig gave the hosts their final tallies of the tilt at 3:16 as North Florida scored the final six points for the final margin. Juliemay Syquio, who was held scoreless on her first 11 attempts, made her final two shots, including one at the buzzer for UNF.
Miller finished with team-high scoring honors for the fourth-straight game, as she led all players with 14 points, including 7-of-8 from the charity stripe. Nichols added 11 and Gramblin finished with eight. Varno pulled down a game-best seven boards.
Moore paced North Florida with 13 points with Dominique Barbosa chipping in seven and Guldager adding six. Moore also grabbed a team-high six caroms.
Wofford will return to action for its second of a three-game homestand when it hosts Bethune-Cookman at 2 p.m. Wednesday inside the Benjamin Johnson Arena.
