SPARTANBURG, S.C.-The Wofford women’s basketball team opened the 2008-09 season with a hard fought loss to the Chanticleers of Coastal Carolina 67-64. The Terriers led by 2, 32-30, at the half but were unable to sustain the lead.

Neither team could get things going early offensively in the opening half as the score was tied at nine with 10:42 left to play.  A lay-up by Kathlyn Varno gave the Terriers their biggest lead of the half as they went up 18-15 with 5:45 on the clock. 

Wofford (0-1, 0-0 SoCon) would continue to lead until late in the half when two free throws, made by Courtney Grambley,  gave Coastal Carolina (3-0, 0-0 Big South) a 28-26 lead. The Terriers responded with a bucket by Summer Nichols, followed by a Mahagony Williams free-throw to take a 29-28 lead with 37 seconds left in the half. Two free throws by Coastal Carolina gave them a one point lead that was quickly erased by an Ashley Kroker triple with 12 seconds remaining. With the Kroker bucket, the Terriers took a 32-30 lead into the break.

The Terriers shot 44.4 percent from the field in the opening half while Coastal Carolina only shot 26.7 percent. A balanced scoring attack helped Wofford take the lead as eight players scored in the opening stanza.

A Mahagony Williams jumper gave the Terriers a 34-30 lead out of the break and eventually a 38-33 lead following a Nichols jumper. Wofford would then go on a scoring drought lasting nearly five minutes in which the Chanticleers stormed back and took a 46-38 advantage with 12:20 left in the game.   Coastal would continue to build on the lead and extend it to 53-42 with under ten minutes left on the clock.

However, the Terriers would not go away as they scrapped their way back as Liz Miller hit a three to cut the lead to six at 55-49. Williams got Wofford within three as she made a strong basket in the paint as she was fouled giving her a free throw opportunity in which she capitalized on. The Chanticleers would continue to make free throws down the stretch which gave them a five point lead with 18 seconds left in the contest. A long Trey from Natalie Gramblin cut the deficit to two with five seconds left, but a free throw by Coastal Carolina only left Wofford with a half-court shot that came up short.

The Terriers were led by Williams who tallied a double-double with 17 points and ten rebounds. Nichols added ten points to go along with eight rebounds while Natalie Gramblin also reached double-digits in scoring with ten points. Miller nearly had another double-double for the Terriers as she totaled nine points and eight boards to go along with five assists. For the game, the Terriers shot 39 percent from the field, 30.8 percent from the three-point line, and only 50 percent from the foul line. However, Wofford dominated Coastal Carolina on the glass 48-30.

Coastal Carolina was led by Sydnei Moss who totaled 22 points while Amanda Stull added 12. The Chanticleers shot 32.8 percent from the floor, 25 percent from the three-point line, and went 25-29 for 86.2 percent from the foul line.