Box Score Box Score
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Georgia Southern jumped out to a 10-2 start and maintained the lead for the remainder of the game in defeating host Wofford, 62-56, Saturday afternoon in Southern Conference women's basketball action inside the Benjamin Johnson Arena in Spartanburg, S.C., as part of Think Pink Day.
The Lady Eagles would never relinquish the lead despite numerous attempts by the Terriers to take it. Wofford (9-13, 2-9 SoCon) would outscore Georgia Southern 8-1 after the early advantage, capped by a pair of free throws from sophomore Natalie Gramblin at 9:22, to trim the deficit to one, 11-10.
However, the visitors would then knock down the next eight tallies to build a nine-point cushion, 19-10 with 6:46 to play in the first half. Freshman Ashley Kroker nailed a 3-pointer at 5:00 to slice the lead to five, 21-16. Gramblin converted her own backcourt steal into a coast-to-coast layup at 2:11 to pull the Terriers within four, 25-21, the closest of the opening stanza.
Georgia Southern (14-9, 10-2 SoCon) built a six-point halftime edge, but two buckets by freshman Mahagony Williams brought Wofford again within four, 29-25, with 18:27 remaining. GSU then turned to its leading scorer on the day, Shawnda Atwood, for half of its next eight points in building a 10-point, 37-27, advantage at the 15:12 mark.
Wofford continued to chip away at the lead and junior Liz Miller connected on a conventional three-point play with 11:52 left as the Terriers again pulled within five, 39-34. The Lady Eagle lead grew to 10 once more, 48-38, at 8:46 on a pair of Tiffany Brown charity tosses. However, consecutive 3-pointers from sophomore Kristin Bradley saw the lead drop to four, 48-44.
Brown then scored four more points and Jessica Geiger hit a trey of her own at 4:42 as Georgia Southern used a 7-2 run to push the gap back to nine, 55-46, at 4:42. Miller scored on her only 3-pointer of the game with :38 seconds left to equal the score from the previous meeting between the two schools this season, 60-54. Gramblin tallied the Terriers final points on a layup with :08 seconds to play.
Atwood paced the Lady Eagles with 14 points and eight rebounds. Brown, a preseason All-Southern Conference pick, added nine and seven, respectively.
Gramblin was Wofford's top scorer with a career-best 15 points, including a 7-of-8 effort from the foul line. Williams and sophomore Kelly Dwyer, who returned to action for the first time in four games, grabbed team-high tying six boards.
The Terriers will return to action with their second-straight home game, a 6 p.m. Monday affair against College of Charleston. Georgia Southern stays in the Upstate to battle Furman at 7 p.m. Monday in Greenville, S.C.
