Box Score Box score
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Riding a late first half run the University of North Carolina at Wilmington Seahawks broken open the game en route to an 81-48 win over the Wofford College Terriers in a nonconference women’s basketball game in Ben Johnson Arena.
UNCW opened the game with an early 10-4 lead five and a half minutes into play, but five minutes later, the Terriers closed the margin to 14-13 and took the lead with 8:21 left to play on a three pointer by Ashley Kroker.
The Seahawks knotted the game at 19 on two free throws by Jessica Freeman. On the next two possession the teams swap buckets as Wofford’s Jessica Escorza made a layup and Wilmington’s Kristen Hanzer added a layup to make it 21-21 with 7:08 remaining.
An Andrew Alisha three pointer sparked the Seahawks offense that would pour in 41 more points, 44 total points, over the final six and a half minutes of the half. The UNCW defense used a constant pressure to hold the Terriers to just five points over the same time frame as the Seahawks took a 45-26 lead into the locker rooms at the half.
Both team’s converted 50 percent of their field goal attempts in the half, but UNCW made 11 of their 13 free throws, while Wofford only converted one of their two attempts. The Seahawks’ pressure earned them 21 points of off 16 Terrier turnovers, while Wofford nine points of nine UNCW turnovers.
In the second half, Wilmington kept the throttle down as they extended their lead to 35, 71-36, on a Trice jumper just over nine minutes into play. Wofford brought the lead under thirty twice in the half, once at the 4:24 mark on a Mahagony Williams free throw, and the second at the 2:42 mark, 77-47, on two Kroker charity shots.
The Seahawks ended the game with a 33 point lead, 81-48, at the final buzzer.
Wofford committed 30 turnovers while over forcing 16 from UNCW. The Seahawks held a plus-10 rebound margin 39-29, including 21 offensive rebounds compared to Wofford’s 11.
Jessica Escorza paced the Wofford offense with 13 points going 5-of-10 from the floor, 2-of-5 from behind the arc and 1-2 from the line. Williams followed with 11 points and four rebounds. Rachel Brittenham also had four rebounds and handed out a game-high five assists.
Escorza and Williams have both scored in double-digits in four of the five Terrier games this season. The senior, Williams, leads the team with 13.4 points per game averaged, while the freshman, Escorza, follows with an 11.4 points per game average.
For the Seahawks Martha White lead all scorers in the game with 14 points making six of her eight attempts from the floor and both of her free throws in the game. She was followed by Jessica Freeman, who had 13 points, and Kristen Hanzer, who had 10 points.
Wofford will travel to Norfolk, Va. for their next contest against the Norfolk State Spartans on Saturday with tipoff scheduled for 4 p.m.
