Box Score Box Score
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Second-seeded Western Carolina built a 14-point halftime lead and held on after Wofford trimmed it to five in the second half for a 78-61 victory during the quarterfinal round of the Southern Conference women's basketball tournament Friday morning inside the North Charleston Coliseum in North Charleston, S.C.
Sophomore Kelly Dwyer gave the Terriers an early 4-3 lead, but WCU would then score the next 10 points over a three-minute span to take a 13-4 advantage on a jumper from Emily Clarke at 14:41. Natalie Gramblin would stop the run with a jumper of her own at 14:32 and a pair of free throws from freshman Ashley Kroker, her first two conversions of the season, whittled the gap to six, 16-10, with 12:39 to play.
Western Carolina (24-7) then mounted another scoring surge as Monique Dawson hit a 3-pointer and Jessika Johnson added a layup at 10:58 for a 21-10 lead.
Wofford, however, continued to battle with Gramblin scoring the next five points and junior Liz Miller adding another layup to close the margin to four, 21-17, as the seven-minute mark passed. WCU then built its edge back to double digits, but an old-fashioned three-point play at 5:09 by Miller cut the gap back to seven, 27-20.
Again, though, the Terriers were unable to sustain the momentum and a nine-point swing by the Lady Catamounts pushed their lead to 16 before Gramblin stepped the foul line and hit a pair of free throws with 1:57 remaining. Junior Laura Depko drove for a layup for the final bucket of the half with :44 seconds left.
Wofford (10-21) carried the momentum into the second half, netting 10 of the first 15 points of the second stanza during the opening three minutes to cut the deficit to nine, 44-35. Two minutes elapsed before Miller drilled a triple at 15:04 cutting the WCU lead to six, 46-40. Following a Clarke layup, junior Kate Dempsey connected on 1-of-2 charity tosses and Gramblin used a steal from senior Kelsi Koenig for a wide-open layup to pull the Terriers within five, 48-43, with 13:53 showing on the clock.
The Lady Catamounts again seized control, rattling off eight-straight points capped by a jumper from Kendra Eaton at 11:05 for a 56-43 lead. The Terriers, who were seeded 10th, would cut the lead to single digits one last time, 56-47, on Koenig's final points of her career at 7:49.
Clarke and Johnson took turns as Western Carolina saw its lead swell to 17, 71-54, on a three-point play from the latter. The final seven points for WCU came from the foul line with Depko drilling a 3-pointer with five seconds remaining.
Miller tied Johnson for game-high scoring honors with 18 apiece. Also reaching double figures for the Lady Catamounts were Eaton with 11 and Clarke with 10. Eaton led the squad with eight rebounds.
Miller also added five assists and a pair of steals. She finishes the season with 107 assists and a school-record 97 steals, becoming the first Wofford player to top the century mark in helpers since Jessica Ridgill's 101 in 2000-01. She will enter next season, her last in a Terrier uniform, with 253 steals, needing just 30 to tie Libby Corry's school record of 283 set from 1991-95.
Gramblin matched her career-best effort with 15 points, while sophomore Kathlyn Varno pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.
Mahagony Williams, the league's Freshman of the Year, ended the campaign with 201 total rebounds. She is the first Wofford player to top 200 in a season since Nancy Dubuisson's 223 in 2000-01. She also registered 65 blocked shots during the season, a school record for freshmen and also ranking ninth on the program's all-time list.
Koenig closed her solid Terrier career ranked 12th in school history for both points and rebounds. She finishes with 930 career points and 538 career boards.
She is the only senior on the Wofford team, which will return all five starters for head coach Edgar I. Farmer Jr.'s fifth season in 2008-09.
