Box Score Box Score (pdf)
VIDEO: Interview with Coach Farmer and Fr. Kentra Washington
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford College women's basketball team used a 27-6 run through the first 10 minutes of the second half to snap a seven-game losing streak and dismantle Georgia Southern, 73-49, Friday night at Benjamin Johnson Arena.
Leading 41-31 with 14 minutes to play in the second half, Wofford blew the game wide open. The Terriers buried three consecutive 3-pointers in a span of less than two minutes, headed by the shooting of freshman Kentra Washington. The Simpsonville, S.C., native knocked down a pair in the two-minute span, and later buried her third in as many attempts to put Wofford on top by 26 with 9:31 remaining. Wofford went on to lead by as many as 28.
"I wasn't scared to shoot it and my teammates made the extra pass to get me the ball while I was open," said Washington, who scored game-high 14 points off the bench on 5-of-7 shooting, including a 4-of-5 mark from three. "Coach [Farmer] always tells me if there is space to shoot the ball, and that's what I did."
Washington's 14 points tied her career-high, which she set 13 days earlier at home against Samford.
In all, 11 Terriers (6-21, 4-13 SoCon) found the scoring column in what was Wofford's largest margin of victory against a Division-I opponent since defeating Winthrop by 26 in December of 2006. It was also the Terriers' biggest win against a Southern Conference team since February of 2002 when they topped Davidson by 24, 77-53, at Benjamin Johnson Arena.
Wofford shot 46.8 percent (29-62 FG) on Friday, marking season-highs in both field goal percentage and field goals made. The Terriers drained eight 3-pointers to tie for their most of the season, and dished out a season-high 14 assists.
Head coach Edgar I. Farmer, Jr., praised the entire squad for a complete team effort.
"I'm really proud of our basketball team. We had been going through some adversity, but this team believed in the process," Farmer said. "We knew if we stuck to the process that something good was going to happen.
"Our energy, excitement, enthusiasm and execution were all fantastic. We followed the game plan to a tee and played very well tonight."
Four Terriers reached double figures. Adding to Washington's 14, senior Logan Morris had 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting, filling up the stat sheet with three boards, two assists, a block and a steal. Sophomores Ashton Fleming and Chanel Stokes scored 12 and 10 points, respectively. Fleming was 5-of-7 from the field and Stokes was 4-of-6, including 2-of-3 from long range.
Sophomore Jordan Frazier entered the game as Wofford's leading scorer at 13.9 points per game. She scored six on Friday, but found other ways to contribute, gathering a career-and-game-high eight rebounds, dishing out a game-high three assists and reaching her season average of three steals. The 5-foot-2 guard even rose up to earn the fifth block of her career and third this season.
Aside from the offensive outburst, Wofford limited Georgia Southern (9-19, 7-10 SoCon) to just 22 points on 31-percent shooting in the second half. The Terrier defense came up with six of their nine steals and three of their five blocks in the final 20 minutes, ending the game with a 19-13 advantage in the turnover department. Wofford also had a 41-34 edge in rebounds.
The win bumped the Terriers back above .500 at home this season, where they are now 6-5.
The first half was highly competitive and played to seven ties and six lead changes. The Terriers came up empty on some early 3-point attempts, but Fleming got the night started with a take to the basket and Morris was good on the next possession to give Wofford the early lead.
The Terriers came out with a full-court press to slow down GSU's attack. The Eagles struggled to just 12 points through the first 10 minutes, but Wofford was having trouble scoring as well and trailed by one, 12-11, at the period's halfway mark.
The two sides found a groove and combined to score 46 points through the final 10 minutes of the half. The lead bounced back and forth until Fleming was good on another lay-in to break a 21-all tie. She scored again less than a minute later to push the lead to four.
Georgia Southern cut the lead to one with less than a minute to play in the half on two Angel McGowan free throws – McGowan scored a team-high 13 points. Washington hit a jumper on the ensuing Wofford possession, and after the Terriers got a stop to earn the final possession of the half, junior Michelle Merritt grabbed a Frazier miss and scored the put-back as the half expired. It gave Wofford a 32-27 lead at the break.
McGowan led all scorers with 10 points at the half, but nine Terriers had scored to help Wofford gain the lead. Morris led the team with eight points, while Fleming had six and Washington had five.
Briana Jones opened the second half with a layup 12 seconds in, cutting it to a one-possession game. It was all Wofford from there, beginning with Stokes' first triple of the night on the Terriers' first possession. Frazier hit Fleming in stride on a long in-bounds pass from behind the half-court line to push the lead to eight. Fleming continued to work by grabbing the defensive board on GSU's next possession, and she got fouled on the other end of the court to earn two free throws and make it a 10-point game for the first time all night.
Still ahead by 10 with 14 minutes and change to play, the Terriers lit up from long range. Washington hit the first, followed by Stokes, who stole the ball from Anna Claire Knight and buried Wofford's second straight triple. Morris then found Washington for Wofford's third three in as many attempts to extend the lead to 17.
The run was on. Junior Lauren Kirby got in on the action with a jumper in the paint to make it a 19-point game, forcing GSU head coach Chris Vozab to call a timeout. The run continued, as freshman Maria Corella hit a long two with her toe over the arc. Frazier then got a steal, drove the lane, got fouled and threw up a circus shot that found its way in. It wasn't done there, as Washington ended the 27-6 run with another three to make it 59-33 with 9:31 still to play.
With the Terriers comfortably ahead, Washington began contributing on the assist. She found Morris with a great pass through the lane from outside the right wing, hitting the senior a half-step ahead of her defender in stride for an easy lay-in. A minute later, she found Frazier on the fast-break to give the Terriers their largest lead of the game, 68-40.
The Wofford women's basketball team wraps up the regular season on Sunday, welcoming Davidson to Benjamin Johnson Arena for a 2 p.m., tip. It will be Senior Day for the graduating class of Logan Morris and Erin Frost, with ceremonies planned prior to tip.
Terrier Notes
- The 24-point win was Wofford's largest margin of victory since Dec. 1, 2006, defeating Winthrop 77-51 (26). It was Wofford's largest margin of victory in a Southern Conference game since defeating Davidson 77-53 on Feb. 11, 2002.
- Wofford set or tied season-highs in field goal percentage (46.8 pct.), field goals made (29), 3-point field goals made (8) and assists (14).
- Kentra Washington tied her career-high with 14 points, shooting 5-of-7 from the field and 4-of-5 from three. She led the Terriers in the scoring column for just the second time all season.
- Logan Morris scored in double figures for the 15th time this season and 41st in her career. She also eclipsed 900 career points and ranks No. 16 all-time at Wofford (904).
- Ashton Fleming scored in double figures for the 10th time this season.
- Chanel Stokes scored in double figures for the eighth time this season.
- Eleven different Terriers found the scoring column and 12 different Terriers gathered at least one rebound.
- It was Wofford's sixth win in the all-time series against Georgia Southern, which the Terriers now trail 30-6. Wofford has won three of the last four series games contested in Spartanburg.
