Box Score Box Score (pdf)
Feature: Kentra Washington's Battle with Skin Cancer
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford College women's basketball team battled league-leading and undefeated Chattanooga in the Southern Conference Game of the Week on Monday night at Benjamin Johnson Arena, falling by a score of 64-48.
It was a close contest at the half with the Terriers trailing by just two, 27-25, having outrebounded the SoCon's second-best rebounding squad 19-17. Wofford grabbed the lead twice early in the second half, before Taylor Hall scored Chattanooga's next 11 points to give the Mocs a 38-30 lead, their biggest of the night, with 13:43 to play.
Wofford cut it down to five when junior Michelle Merritt hit a layup while drawing a foul from SoCon Preseason Player of the Year Ashlen Dewart. Seven straight UTC points followed to put the visitors up by 12 with less than seven minutes remaining, and the double-digit lead was held intact the rest of the way.
"I thought we came out with a lot of energy and really did a good job of playing strong team defense in the first half," Wofford head coach Edgar I. Farmer, Jr., said. "Our defense really carried us for that 20 minutes. It was a back-and-forth game.
"Obviously, when you're playing a team like Chattanooga, things need to go well for 40 minutes. In the second half, we just did not make a couple of shots during their run. We had some good looks at the basket, but just did not knock them down. I'm still very proud of how this basketball team competed. We also had a great crowd and there was a lot of energy in the building."
Chattanooga (23-3, 15-0 SoCon) outshot the Terriers (5-19, 3-11 SoCon) by a margin of 45 percent (23-51 FG) to 30 percent (17-56 FG). Hall led the way, tying her career-high with 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting (56.3 pct.). Hall also contributed with eight rebounds and filled the stat sheet with two assists, two blocks and a steal. Dewart had a game-high 12 rebounds, while Alex Black joined Hall in double figures scoring with 10.
For the Terriers, sophomore Jordan Frazier ended the night with a team-high 17 points and was the lone Terrier to score in double figures. Wofford outrebounded Chatt 37-36 – the Mocs entered the game atop the SoCon in rebounding defense (32.9) and No. 2 in the league in rebounding margin (+4.6) – thanks in large part to seven boards apiece from junior Lauren Kirby and sophomore Ashton Fleming. Freshman Kentra Washington played a big role as well by tying her career-high of six boards, and also scoring five points in her first collegiate start.
"I knew she was going to be pumped up and emotional," said Farmer on Washington, who was
featured on the cover of Monday's Spartanburg Herald Journal, detailing her personal battle with skin cancer. "She had a lot of adrenaline going and picked up two early fouls, then came back in the second half and did not let the fact that she was not scoring affect how she played. She continued to work hard and got six big defensive rebounds."
Washington started in the place of senior guard Logan Morris (12.0 pts, 4.3 reb), who suffered an ankle injury on Saturday against Samford.
The Terriers fought with 2013-14 SoCon Regular Season Champions – the Mocs having clinched the crown on Saturday – through six ties and five lead changes in the first half. Frazier gave the Terriers the initial lead and the game had already seen four ties with the score just 8-8 at the 15:15 mark.
Chattanooga was the first to go on a run, scoring nine of the game's next 12 points to earn its biggest lead of the half, 17-11, midway through.
It did not rock the Terriers as Fleming responded with her first triple of the night and Frazier got one of her patented steal-and-fast-break lay-ins to cut it back to just one. After Black scored Chatt's first points in over five minutes at the 5:13 mark, senior Erin Frost hit a jumper and Fleming was good for two free throws to put Wofford back on top, 21-20, with 4:05 on the first-half clock.
UTC re-extended the lead back to five with less than a minute remaining in the half. A Frazier drive with 25 seconds to go cut it to three and Dewart was whistled for an offensive foul with nine seconds showing to give the Terriers the ball back. Frazier made an impact again, driving to the hoop and getting fouled with exactly one second before halftime. Frazier went down hard and Washington had to shoot the free throws because of a stoppage in play, hitting 1-of-2 to end the half.
Frazier led all scorers with 13 points at the intermission. She also had three steals. Fleming had seven points and Kirby posted up for five rebounds. Meanwhile, Dewart already had eight rebounds, but the Terriers were winning the battle of the boards by two.
Wofford grabbed the lead 10 seconds into the second half as Kirby was given space outside the arc and stared down a Moc defender to bury a three. Hall gave UTC back the advantage a few possessions later, but Stokes was good on a drive to make it 30-29 in favor of the home side.
Hall continued to grind and Wofford hit a rut. The Mocs' leading scorer (14.4 pts) scored 11 consecutive UTC points to single-handedly put her team on a 9-0 run. Wofford chopped it down to five, but missed some open looks that could have made a huge difference in the final outcome. Chatt's lead ballooned to 12 and then as many as 16, the eventual final.
The Wofford women's basketball team makes its final road trip of the 2013-14 season next week, beginning with a contest at Elon on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Terrier Notes
- Jordan Frazier scored a team-high 17 points, leading the Terriers in scoring for the 11th time this season and scoring in double figures for the 16th time.
- Freshman Kentra Washington made her first collegiate start, scoring five points and tying her season-high with six rebounds.
- Wofford outrebounded Chattanooga 37-36, marking just the fourth time this year Chatt has been outrebounded in a Southern Conference game.
- UTC now leads the all-time series 40-2.
