Cougars Power Past Wofford, 59-45 - CofCSports.com--Official Web site of College of Charleston Athletics

Saturday, February 4

Spartanburg, SC

1pm

College of Charleston

Wofford

Cougars Power Past Wofford, 59-45 - CofCSports.com--Official Web site of College of Charleston Athletics

2/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

#articleRelated { display: none !important; } Erica Irick scored 15 points, while Erica Smith posted a career-high 14 points to lead the College of Charleston women's basketball team to the 59-45 win over the Wofford Terriers in front of 297 fans this afternoon at the Benjamin Johnson Arena in Spartanburg, S.C.

Following a Kate Dempsey layup to give Wofford a 9-8 lead with 11:12 to play in the opening session, College of Charleston (10-10, 7-5 SoCon) used a 15-0 run over the next seven minutes to take a 23-9 edge at the 4:13 mark. Irick scored five points and Jade Hughes, returning home to Spartanburg for the first time as a Cougar, added four during the stretch.

The Terriers then responded with an 8-2 spurt, including a pair of 3-pointers from Mary Jo Yee, to close within 25-17 at the half.

Wofford (6-15, 2-10 SoCon) then trimmed the lead to five, 27-22, on a Nakia Mister layup with 17:08 to play in the second half. Over the next 10:20, the Cougars widened their margin to as high as 14, 43-29, on the strength of eight points from Smith. The Terriers then cut the deficit down to six, 45-39, on a 10-2 surge capped by a layup from K.C. Correll with just over five minutes remaining.

Over the final five minutes, Charleston outscored Wofford, 14-6 and held its highest lead at 16, 59-43, with 1:30 to play on a Marketta Talley 3-pointer.

Following Irick's 15 points and Smith's 14, was Hughes who scored 11 and dished out a game-high five assists. Of her 11 points, six of them were from the free-throw line as she went six-for-seven this afternoon.

Sarah Moye grabbed a game-high tying nine rebounds, one more than Irick, as the Cougars held a 47-34 advantage on the boards.

Leading the Terrier attack was 10 points from Mister, Yee and Kelsi Koenig, the team's three-leading scorers. Mister almost posted a double-double with a game-high tying nine caroms.

The Terriers shot 16-of-60 (26.7 percent) from the field for its second lowest field goal percentage of the season and could not contain the Cougars' 24-of-56 (42.9 percent) effort, including a 55.6 percent (15-of-27) outing in the second half.

A 7 p.m. Tuesday home tilt versus Elon is next on the docket for Wofford, while College of Charleston plays at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Furman in Greenville, S.C.