Box Score Box Score
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- College of Charleston overcame a hot shooting first half by host Wofford to grind out a 60-53 hard-fought victory Monday night in Southern Conference women's basketball action inside the Benjamin Johnson Arena in Spartanburg, S.C. The Terriers opened the contest by connecting on seven of their first nine attempts from the field before finishing the first stanza 11-of-19 (57.9 percent).
The strong beginning of the game by Wofford enabled the Terriers to claim a six-point advantage three times, the last making the score 15-9 and coming on a Kate Dempsey jumper at 12:51. The Cougars then clawed their way back in, led by two free throws from Nikki Williams on a three-shot foul and a jumper from Sarah Moye to cut the deficit to two, 15-13, with 11:44 left in the session.
Moye then rattled off three straight points for Charleston but a Mahagony Williams jumper at 6:50 kept the margin at three, 21-18. Nikki Williams knotted the scoring for the first time at 21-21 on the back-end of two free throws. The score was tied three more times before the half concluded with junior Liz Miller hitting a free throw with 1:27 left for a 29-29 deadlock. Tonia Gerty hit a pair of left-side jumpers before the intermission to put the Cougars ahead, 33-29, after 20 minutes.
College of Charleston (12-11, 8-5 SoCon) expanded its lead to seven at 14:53 of the second half on a 3-pointer from Brooke Kotcella. Sophomore Kelly Dwyer and Dempsey each hit baskets for the Terriers to trim the margin to three, 40-37, with 12:38 to play.
Neither team scored for the next three-and-a-half minutes before Nikki Williams hit 1-of-2 free throws. Two more charity tosses apiece from Kotcella and Ashley Scott pushed the Cougar advantage to eight, 45-37, at 8:05. It was the largest lead for either team.
Dempsey then began a 7-0 spurt by Wofford (9-14, 2-10 SoCon) to cut the gap to one, 45-44, with 6:13 remaining. With 4:27 showing on the clock, sophomore Kristin Bradley tallied a corner triple, the fifth-straight game in which she has scored, to tie things up for one last time at 49-49.
Six-straight free throws gave Charleston a 55-49 lead before Mahagony Williams stopped the surge with a put-back jumper in the lane with :30 seconds to play. Natalie Gramblin's layup with :19 seconds to go proved to be the final Terrier points on the evening.
Nikki Williams tallied a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds in leading the Cougars. Erika Smith paced CofC with 12 points, while Moye finished just short of a double-double herself with nine points and eight rebounds.
Gramblin was Wofford's leading scorer for the second-straight game. She finished with 14 points, one shy of her career-best 15 which she set Saturday against Georgia Southern. Dempsey poured in 11 points off the bench.
Kathlyn Varno hauled in a team-high 10 boards, while Mahagony Williams led all players with five blocked shots.
The Terriers will return to action at 4 p.m. Saturday when they travel to Cullowhee, N.C., to face Western Carolina. The Cougars welcome Georgia Southern to Charleston, S.C., for a 2 p.m. Saturday tip.
