BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Wofford College women's basketball team stormed back in the second half to come within one point of tying the Samford University Bulldogs in the closing seconds Saturday night, but the rally fell short as the Terriers ultimately fell 50-48 in the Pete Hanna Center.
 
The Terriers (9-19, 3-11 SoCon) were down by ten with 6:56 to play and went on a 5-0 run in the next 2:27 of play to make it 45-40. After Samford (19-10, 11-3 SoCon) forward Destiney Elliott hit a layup, the Terriers scored the next five points to cut the lead back down to two.
 
Forward Kentra Washington blocked Samford guard Amara Mayer's next shot to give the Terriers possession with a chance to tie, but Wofford turned the ball over and was forced to foul with 12 seconds left. Samford forward Taylor Reece made both free throws to make it 49-45 Samford.
 
Wofford guard Maria Corella banked in a three, her third of the game, on Wofford's next possession to cut the lead to one with four seconds to play. After the ensuing Wofford timeout, Samford guard Brittany Stevens drew a foul and made one of two free throws, giving Samford a 50-48 advantage.
 
Out of timeouts, the Terriers were forced to attempt a last-second heave at the buzzer. Guard Ashton Fleming's shot hit the backboard just to the right of the rim, and Samford held on for the victory.
 
Samford jumped out to an early lead to start the game, going up 18-10 in the first period. Wofford started the game 2-2 from deep, with guard Chanel Stokes and Washington each hitting a three. The Terriers however were held scoreless for a five-minute stretch that allowed Samford to extend its lead.
 
Both teams locked down defensively in the second period, with only ten combined points scored in the period. Samford scored the final four points of the half, and the Bulldogs entered halftime with a 24-14 advantage.
 
The Terriers came out hot offensively in the third period, scoring the first four points of the period while holding Samford to without a field goal for nearly the first five minutes of the period. Both teams scored back and forth, but Corella helped spark the Terriers with eight points in the period as Wofford outscored Samford 18-15 in the third.
 
The game was a tale of two halves, with Samford shooting 37 percent in the first half but 27.3 percent in the second. Wofford shot 28.6 percent in the first half but improved to 42.3 percent in the second half and outscored Samford 34-26 in the second half.
 
For the game, Wofford outshot Samford, going 17-47 (36.2 percent) from the floor and 5-13 (38.5 percent) from three. Samford went 16-49 (32.7 percent) overall and 6-20 (30 percent) from deep. The Terriers also outrebounded Samford 37-34 and scored 11 second-chance points compared to Samford's three.
 
Washington led the Terriers with a game-high 12 points. She has now scored in double-figures in ten straight games, the sixth-longest streak in the team's Division I era. She also had a team-high seven rebounds, one block and one assist.
 
Corella and forward Grayson Pinholster also scored in double-figures for Wofford, both finishing with 11 points. Corella went 4-6 from the floor and 3-4 from downtown, while Pinholster finished with six rebounds, one block, one steal and an assist.
 
Samford was led offensively by Reece, who finished with 10 points and tied for a team-high seven rebounds with guard Krista Stricklin.
 
The loss puts Wofford in a tie for sixth place in the Southern Conference standings with Western Carolina at the conclusion of the regular season. Both teams finished with identical results in conference play, splitting the season series and twice defeating UNCG.
 
The tiebreaker will come down to RPI ratings, which will be determined Sunday morning when the updated rankings are released. Entering Saturday, Wofford was 302^nd and Western Carolina was 312^th on RPIratings.com. The two teams were separated by .0097 points.
 
If Wofford is the sixth seed, the Terriers will face third-seeded Samford again in the first round of the SoCon Tournament in Asheville, N.C., at 6:15 p.m. If the Terriers finish seventh, they will play second-seeded Chattanooga at 4 p.m. The first round of the SoCon Tournament begins Thursday.