Charleston Falls to Wofford, 56-47

Saturday, January 6

Spartanburg, SC

3:00 PM

College of Charleston

Wofford

1/6/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

By: CofCSports.com

Two Cougars scored in double-figures but that would not be enough as the College of Charleston women's basketball team fell 56-47 to the Wofford Terriers in front of 752 fans at the Benjamin Johnson Arena in Spartanburg, S.C.
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The Terriers used a total team effort in the victory but were led by a 14-point outing from sophomore Summer Nichols. Nichols hit four field goals and 6-of-9 from the foul line, while also grabbing seven rebounds in the win. Her free throws with 13 seconds left iced the final margin.

College of Charleston (6-8, 2-2 SoCon) started the game with a 6-1 lead, spurred by a pair of buckets from Christina Williams and another from Nikki Williams. Wofford, however, would not led the lead grow more than five as a 4-0 run cut the deficit to one, 6-5, before Jade Hughes hit a 3-pointer to put the Cougars up four, 9-5, with 16:16 left in the half

Another Wofford (7-7, 1-3 SoCon) trey, this time from senior Mary Jo Yee from near mid-court as the shot clock expired, provided the Terriers with a 14-13 lead at the 9:32 mark and an advantage they would not relinquish the remainder of the contest. Junior Kelsi Koenig added an old-fashioned three-point play a short time later to give Wofford a four-point lead, 17-13.

The Cougars, however, kept battling and trimmed the deficit to two, 22-20, as Erica Williams hit a jumper with 3:30 left. Wofford answered with a 6-2 run to close the half as senior Susanna Paul converted a layup as the clock showed zeros and the hosts entered the break with a 28-22 edge.

Nichols then jump started a 4-0 Terrier streak to push the gap to 10, 32-22, early in the second half. Miller hit a 3-pointer at 16:38 to give the Terriers their first 11-point cushion and the squad equaled that lead twice more later in the stanza.

After Wofford's last 11-point lead, 41-30, with 13:29 to go, the College of Charleston answered with a 13-6 spurt to cut the deficit to four, 47-43, on another trey by Hughes.

The Terriers again countered and closed the game on a 9-4 run, scoring five of the points on the foul line.

Hughes and Christina Williams paced the Cougars with 13 points apiece, while Melissa Chambers grabbed a game-high tying eight boards and matched teammate Erika Smith's effort with two blocked shots.

Wofford also received nine points from Miller and eight off the bench from senior Jennifer Weurding. Koenig equaled Chambers with eight boards, while Weurding had seven and three blocked shots.

Wofford will return to action at 6 p.m. Tuesday when it hosts Elon inside the Benjamin Johnson Arena. College of Charleston will next play at 7 p.m. Monday in Greenville, S.C., against Furman.