College of Charleston
Wofford
Cougars Hold on Late to Defeat Wofford
12/6/2011 3:21:00 AM | Women's Basketball
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Junior Cathryn Hardy scored a career-high 21 points and the Cougars held Wofford to 26 percent shooting as they escaped with a 49-44 victory at TD Arena Monday night.
The Cougars (2-5, 1-1) handed the Terriers (6-1, 0-1) their first loss of the season as three CofC athletes scored in double-figures and junior Latisha Harris recorded her second consecutive double-double with 10 points and 19 rebounds. Her 19 rebounds are tied for second all-time in a single-game in CofC history.
“I'm very pleased to get the win tonight,” Head Coach Nancy Wilson said. “I told the team we did everything we had to do to win this game, but we still have a lot we need to improve upon. I think this victory will give us confidence going forward.”
For the game the Cougars grabbed 20 offensive rebounds, which they converted into second chance points, a category in which they held a 15-4 advantage over Wofford.
It was Wofford who controlled the game early and with 7:46 left in the first half the Cougars found themselves in a 19-11 point hole. Then Hardy hit a jump shot to ignite a 12-0 run in which the Cougars held Wofford scoreless for five minutes and 37 seconds to give them a 23-19 lead.
Wofford came out strong in the second half as they opened the period on a 6-0 run, but Hardy, who converted 13-of-15 free throws, came back and scored four points for the Cougars.
The Cougars clung to a two point lead on a Wofford basket until Harris made a strong move to the basket, hit a layup and got fouled. She nailed the free-throw to extend the Cougar lead to five at 39-34. Harris would add another jumper and two free-throws from Hardy later the Cougars extended their lead to eight at 43-35 with 6:19 left in the game.
Wofford would cut the lead to five at 46-41 with just under a minute remaining, and had a chance to get closer, but sophomore Jillian brown made one of her career-high five steals to put the Cougars in position to win. Brown stepped in front of her player and took a magic eight-ball chance which paid off for the Cougars.
Defense was a big part of the Cougars victory as they held Preseason All-Conference selection April Moorhouse to three points.
The Cougars will take a break from competition for final exams and get back at it on Dec. 17 as they travel to Davidson, N.C. to battle the Davidson Wildcats. The next home game will be Dec. 21 as the Cougars battle the seven-time national champion University of Connecticut Huskies at TD Arena.
