SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford College women's basketball team gutted out a 72-71 victory over the Western Carolina Catamounts Thursday night in Benjamin Johnson Arena.
 
Down 69-62 with 4:03 to play, the Terriers (8-17, 2-9 SoCon) proceeded to go on a 10-2 run to end the game, capped off by two free throws from guard Chanel Stokes with :29 seconds left that sealed the victory over the Catamounts (6-20, 2-10 SoCon).
 
"I told them we got to dig deep," Head Coach Edgar I. Farmer, Jr. said referring to the final four minutes of the game. "We've been in these situations before, and we had to dig a little bit deeper. We had been on the same page the whole first half, and I said to them we have to call upon that and do it one more time and get stop after stop. I thought they did a fantastic job."
 
Stokes scored the last four points for the Terriers on her way to a season-high 14 points on 5-6 shooting from the floor and 4-5 at the line.
 
Western Carolina had two chances to win the game late. In their first possession, guard Lindsay Simpson missed a three from the corner and Terrier guard Ashton Fleming was able to corral the rebound before getting fouled.
 
Fleming missed both free throws, setting up the Catamounts with one more chance to win it. Good defense from the Terriers however forced Catamount guard Angel Allen into a contested three that she missed as time expired.
 
"Chanel Stokes was huge with those free throws," Coach Farmer said. "Ashton getting a great rebound at the end, it's big. We had to have it."
 
The Terriers trailed 14-12 after the first period but outscored the Catamounts 21-16 in the second period to take a 35-28 lead into halftime. The Catamounts however went on a big run in the third period to push back into the lead at 55-52 heading into the final period.
 
During Wofford's run to close the game, guard Jordan Frazier stole a pass and scored a fast break layup to move into a tie for 10th place on Wofford's career scoring list with former Terrier Teri Snelling. Frazier and Snelling both have 1,075 points in their careers.
 
Three different Terriers scored in double figures, with forwards Kentra Washington and Grayson Pinholster joining Stokes in that category by scoring 16 and 13 points, respectively. Washington has now scored in double-figures in seven straight games. Fleming had a team-high seven rebounds to go with five points.
 
Guard Ace Easter paced the Catamounts offensively with a game-high 29 points on 11-14 shooting, going 7-10 from behind the arc. Forward Sherae Bonner had a game-high eight rebounds to lead the Catamounts in that category.
 
The Terriers in the game shot 50 percent from the field, their best percentage since doing so against Western Carolina last season at home. The Catamounts shot 52 percent from the floor and 52.6 percent from three (10-19).
 
Wofford did a good job of distributing the ball during the game, dishing out 13 assists. The Terriers also outscored Western Carolina in the paint 38-30.
 
"I thought we did a really good job with moving the basketball," Coach Farmer said. "If you don't know who is going to get it, then it is hard to defend. I thought we did a really good job of making the extra pass and taking advantage of our matchups inside towards the end when we needed it. We felt like if we pounded it inside, good things would happen, and I thought the girls did a nice job of that."
 
The win moves the Terriers to 14-32 all-time against Western Carolina, with the Terriers winning five of the last seven meetings. Wofford is now 8-13 against Western Carolina in the BenJo, winning the last four home matchups versus the Catamounts.
 
Wofford plays its final home game of the season Saturday, as the Terriers celebrate Senior Day by taking on the UNCG Spartans at 2 p.m. in Benjamin Johnson Arena.