BIRMINGHAM, AL. – The Wofford women's basketball team fell 81-77 to Samford on Thursday evening. The Bulldogs pulled off the victory despite a career high 35 points from Wofford's freshman guard Da'Ja Green. The loss moves Wofford to 10-13 overall and 3-5 in the southern conference with six games remaining in the regular season.
 
The teams battled it out in a defensive struggle nearly a month ago but Thursday evening was a different story. The Terriers and Bulldogs traded buckets for the opening ten minutes as both teams converted seven field goals in the early going. Although Samford hit on four three-pointers, the Terriers led 23-22 after one period thanks to 14 points from Green.
 
Wofford really heated up in the second quarter shooting 9-13 (69%) from the field while outscoring Samford 21-15. Samford hung tough in the period, going 7-13 (53%) from the floor allowing the Bulldogs to keep it close at the half. Wofford led 44-37 at the break behind Green's 22 points, four rebounds, four assists and one steal. Anna Claire Atha also knocked down two triples in the first half, finishing with six points and two boards in just 11 minutes of action.
 
Samford began the third quarter on a 5-0 run to cut Wofford's lead to two with just over nine minutes to play in the period. For the remaining nine minutes the squads traded buckets while maintaining the solid shooting form. Both teams knocked down six shots from the floor while Samford went 9-10 from the free throw line to outscore Wofford 22-17 in the third quarter.
 
Leading 61-59 at the end of three quarters of play, Wofford struggled offensively to begin the final ten minutes of play. The Terriers scored just seven points in the first seven minutes of the quarter allowing Samford to reel off a 20-7 run to swing the game in favor of the home Bulldogs. Despite making just five baskets in the final ten minutes, Samford hit 10-15 free throws down the stretch to seal the game.
 
Despite the loss, Wofford shot 29-54 (53%) from the floor, 6-16 (37%) from three and 13-18 (72%) from the charity stripe. Da'Ja Green set a new career high with 35 points on 14-19 (73%) shooting while grabbing nine boards and dishing out five assists. Cairo Booker added 19 points including 5-5 from the free throw line while recording three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Anna Claire Atha finished with 10 points on 3-6 from downtown and eclipsed the double figure mark for her second straight game.
 
Wofford will return to the court on Saturday, February 3 when the team travels to Macon, Ga. to face off against conference leading Mercer. The Terriers fell to Mercer 71-46 in Spartanburg back on January 4.