Cougars Take Care of Terriers, 70-64 - CofCSports.com--Official Web site of College of Charleston Athletics

Monday, January 19

Spartanburg, SC

5pm

College of Charleston

Wofford

Cougars Take Care of Terriers, 70-64 - CofCSports.com--Official Web site of College of Charleston Athletics

1/19/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

#articleRelated { display: none !important; } After being down 17-2 just under five minutes into the contest, the Wofford women's basketball team used a miraculous comeback to close within eight at the half before eventually falling, 70-64, to visiting College of Charleston Monday night in the Benjamin Johnson Arena.

A pair of free throws by freshman forward Susanna Paul (Corpus Christi, Texas) were the only points registered by a Lady Terrier in the opening five minutes against a stingy Cougar defense. The College of Charleston eventually pushed its lead to 29-8 at the 10:25 mark for its largest lead of the game.

Using pressure defense and knocking home timely shots, Wofford began its comeback before the half ended. Freshman point guard Mary Jo Yee (Charlotte, N.C.) was 5-of-6 from the field, including 1-of-1 from behind the 3-point arc for 12 points before the break. The Lady Terriers also blocked four Cougar shots, including a swat from behind by sophomore guard LaToya Strong (Baltimore, Md.) on an Erica Nesmith shot with 7:27 to play giving Strong her first career block. At the half, Wofford trimmed the margin to eight, 39-31.

Nesmith scored the first points of the second session pushing the College of Charleston lead back to 10. However, the Lady Terriers did not quit and would slowly chip away at the lead. Junior guard Ricaye Harris (Muncie, Ind.), who was held scoreless in the first half, nailed consecutive 3-pointers to bring the margin to one, 60-59, with 4:34 remaining.

Sophomore forward Nakia Mister (Irmo, S.C.) tied the game by making 1-of-2 free throws before a Jenny Weurding (Cumming, Ga.) jumper from 15 feet gave the hosts their first lead of the game, 62-60, with 2:09 left.

The teams traded turnovers, but it was the Cougars who finished the game with a 10-2 run to close out the victory.

Yee scored a career-high 15 points while Harris added 16 points, all after intermission. Paul also finished with a career high, tallying 10 points on 4-of-6 from the field and 2-of-2 from the charity stripe. Weurding registered a game-high four blocks and added six points and four boards.

Guards Rachel King and Patrice Bryant paced the College of Charleston with 16 and 14 points, respectively. Bryant also finished with a game-high eight rebounds.

With the loss, the Lady Terriers drop to 0-17, 0-10 in the Southern Conference while the Cougars improve to 5-11 overall and 3-7 in the league.

Wofford will conclude its three-game homestand with a 3 p.m. contest Saturday afternoon against East Tennessee State. The Cougars travel to Davidson to take on the Wildcats on Saturday at 5:00.