Chattanooga, TN – The Wofford women's basketball team fell in the final seconds of a very entertaining game at the McKenzie Arena on Thursday night by a final of 80-76. The loss takes the Terriers to 1-2 in conference play (8-10 overall), and the Mocs move to 2-1 (3-14 overall).
The Mocs started the game on a 9-0 run, but the Terriers started to find their rhythm and made their way back into the game.
Cairo Booker started it out with a layup and
Lilly Hatton made a 3-pointer to put Wofford on the board. Hatton continued her strong game in the paint with a spinning hook shot and a layup to make the score 14-9.
Niyah Lutz connected from downtown after a pass from
Da'Ja Green, and
Chloe Wanink banged a trey with two seconds left to end the 1
st quarter down three, 18-15.
The Terriers had a good start to the 2
nd quarter with
Alea Harris scoring a layup and a Wanink runner that made the score 20-19. The Mocs, however, would go on a 16-2 run which forced Wofford to call a timeout with 2:30 left in the first half. The Terriers didn't plan to end the half down that much as they rallied for a 10-0 run of their own.
Chloe Wanink hit a trey from
Da'Ja Green,
MaryMartha Turner grabbed an offensive rebound and scored three points after making a layup and converting on the following free-throw,
Alea Harris drove for a baseline layup, and
Da'Ja Green ended the half with a jumper at the buzzer for a 36-31 deficit and the break.
Chloe Wanink began the second half with a three from
Da'Ja Green and knocked down another triple to give Wofford their first lead of the game. Chattanooga would respond with a 7-0 run, but
Jamari McDavid ended that with a deep jumper. Out of the media timeout, Wanink drilled a trey, followed by a
Da'Ja Green layup to bring the game within eight.
Lawren Cook called bank and connected on a transition 3-pointer, and
Cairo Booker went to the line twice and made 3 free-throws. Wofford ended the 3
rd quarter on a 13-3 run capped off by
Lilly Hatton 12-footer which made it a one-possession game going into the final frame.
Hatton kicked off the 4
th quarter as she ended the 3
rd with a jumper from just outside the paint, assisted by Cook. With the Mocs holding onto the lead, the media timeout brought us to a 63-56 game.
Da'Ja Green sank her first three of the game and
Cairo Booker scored two layups to bring it to a five-point game. Green followed that with a triple in transition and another bucket from deep to make it 71-69. With under a minute remaining,
Cairo Booker slashed her way for a layup and
Da'Ja Green was fouled for three shots. She made two and
Lilly Hatton grabbed the rebound on the third, kicked it out to
Chloe Wanink who drilled the three for a two-point game with 9.1 left. Unfortunately, Wofford was forced to foul, and Chattanooga made the resulting free-throws to down the Terriers, 80-76.
Chloe Wanink led the Terriers with 20 points, going 6-9 from beyond the arc.
Lilly Hatton had a team-high seven rebounds, while contributing 11 points, and
Da'Ja Green had a game-high nine assists while adding 15 points.
"I give Chattanooga a lot of credit. It's hard to beat teams that score 60%, especially on the road", said Garrity. "I'm extremely proud of our players for the way they responded after being down double-digits a few times throughout the game, and taking the lead in the 3
rd quarter. We showed a lot of resiliency, fight, and grit, and it will take our best effort to win against ETSU."
The Terriers conclude their Tennessee road trip with a drive up to Johnson City to take on the ETSU Bucs. Tipoff is at 2:00 p.m.
