BIRMINGHAM, ALA. – The Wofford women's basketball team fell to Samford, 57-54, on Thursday night at the Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham.
 
Despite a furious third quarter comeback to take a four point lead into the fourth, the Bulldogs (8-11, 2-3 SoCon) used a strong defensive fourth quarter to stifle the Terrier offense and come away victorious.
 
Wofford (12-7, 2-2 SoCon) was led by Maria Corella, who scored 16 points on four three pointers. She was joined in double figures by Chloe Wanink, who scored 11 points on a career high six made free throws. Sarah Traynor added 10 points on a perfect 2-2 from behind the arc.
 
Samford's Hannah Nichols led all scorers with 20 points, including two three pointers.
 
The first quarter was highly competitive, with both teams enjoying the lead at various points. Maria Corella's two three pointers helped the team take just a two point deficit into the second quarter. On defense, the team forced four Samford turnovers.
 
The Bulldogs stretched their lead to 10 points late in the second quarter with a 12-4 run.  Wofford was held to just eight points in the second quarter and Samford recorded four blocks in the period.
 
Coming out of halftime, the Terriers outscored the Bulldogs, 14-6, in the first five and a half minutes of the third quarter.  The team continued the run to take a four point lead into the fourth quarter. Sarah Traynor hit two three pointers in the third and the team shot 3 out of 4 from long range. Defensively, they held the Samford offense to just three field goals in the period.
 
Samford recovered in the fourth quarter, picking up their defense to hold Wofford to just two fourth quarter points in the first eight minutes of the quarter.  The Terriers made another furious rally in the game's final minute, as Corella hit back-to-back threes to cut the Wofford deficit to just three. With under 20 seconds to play, the team had two three point attempts to tie the game, but both glanced off the rim to preserve the Samford victory.
 
Although the Terriers lost, they shot 54% (7-13) from behind the arc and outrebounded the Bulldogs, 36-29. The Bulldogs held a distinct advantage in assist to turnover ratio, as they dished out 15 assists to just 10 turnovers, while the Terriers had just 11 assists to go along with 17 turnovers.
 
Up next, the Terriers conclude their road trip this Saturday, Jan. 21, as they travel to Macon, Ga. to take on Mercer at 2 p.m.